Sydney's Guide to Hostage Situations
by girlinpink44
Summary: What happens with an ex-CIA agent, a fake psychic and his girlfriend, a pharmaceutical salesman, a head detective, a former cop, and an entire precinct of cops get stuck in their station? Story 3 in the Sydney Series
1. Hostage Situations 101

**Sorry about the delay in starting this one! Just haven't felt that inspired the last week. **

* * *

"What's your name?"

A past conversation floated through his mind as she answered. "Sydney Collins."

"Why Sydney?" Shawn had a feeling he knew the answer to the question.

"Because it's a place my father wanted to visit someday. He always thought it was such a nice place."

Shawn stared at her for a minute the rest of the world fading out. "Have you ever met your father?"

"Today's the first time." She whispered.

* * *

"I guess I should properly introduce myself, Special Agent Sydney Collins of the CIA at your service."

* * *

The man stepped into the warehouse, visibly trembling.

"You're late." He flinched at the cold voice.

"I'm s-sorry."

"Sorry isn't enough, do you realize how royally you two screwed up? Now we have to go clean up your mess." The man flinched as the person got up in a rush and headed for the door.

And if we have to kill a few cops to do that, so be it." The last sound the man heard was the sound of a gun.

* * *

6 years ago: Washington DC

Sydney adjusted her sling and hid her wince as she stepped into the room. "Alright, let's get started."

The class settled down, confusion coming over their faces. "My name is Miss Collins I will be your instructor for the next 2 months."

"Mam? Are you a little… I mean…" One of the students, a boy who had to be just out of college, spoke up.

"Aren't I a little young to be teaching a class?" Sydney walked over until she was right in front of him. "What's your name?"

"Agent Alex Temple mam."

"Well Temple, the first thing you need to learn is in this business everything is not as it seems."

She clicked and the projector started up. "Welcome to Hostage Situations 101."

* * *

**That's it for now. I know I know... too short. :)**

**This one already feels different from the other two and I can't wait to see how it unfolds! **

**Til next time :) **


	2. Get a Room

**Unfocused: Its a multi-chapter thing**

**FantomFaire: Sorry, its another short chapter. It's taking some time to get going and hopefully in a few chapters they'll be nice and long again. **

**Have I ever mentioned I love Shules? **

* * *

Shawn watched as Sydney sassed the latest resident of the SBPD's holding cells, Louise Jameson. She was perched on the counter while Lassie fingerprinted her.

Luckily, unlike Lassie, Shawn didn't have to hold in his smile. Or his sigh of relief for that matter. The last couple weeks had been a sick wedding present from the underbelly of Santa Barbara. Too bad there weren't any returns or exchanges.

Talk about crazy cases. But it was over. Which meant…

He turned away from the scene; booking time was also bonding time for Lassie and Sydney. Some people had the oddest hobbies.

He headed upstairs where he knew he'd find a certain blonde. A certain blonde that he finally got to call his wife, and words couldn't express how good that felt.

"Well you are a vision Mrs. Spencer." He came and sat on her desk right in front of her. He leaned in to kiss her

"That's Detective Spencer to you." She returned his kiss.

"How about you and me. Takeout and a movie." He stayed close, very close talking never got old.

"How about we skip the movie?"

"I love the way you think."

"I might even remember to bring my handcuffs home."

Shawn smiled and leaned in to kiss her again. "We might even skip the takeout."

"Ok, seriously! Get a room!" Shawn heard Sydney behind him and could picture her face. "I'm remembering why I decided to live with Gramps."

He heard a smirk and recognized it. When did Gus show up?

"This is a police station! If you two would mind taking your foreplay somewhere else." Shawn sighed as he heard Lassie walk up behind him.

"Geez everyone's a critic. We could ignore him you know." Shawn leaned in and felt Jules' finger on his lips.

"Carlton has a point."

"He doesn't have to." Shawn whined.

Jules put her finger to his lips. "We'll pick this up later."

Shawn sighed as he leaned back. "I'll be looking forward to it."

Lassiter sorted through the mountain of paperwork this case had added up to. Across the bullpen Spencer and Guster will still over at Ohara's- wait she was married did that make her Spencer 3- desk and they were laughing at something. Even the elder Spencer had joined them, in fact he'd brought food.

Sydney was nowhere to be seen, but her stuff was still by his desk she he knew she wasn't too far away. Probably got caught by group of officers hoping for a good CIA tale.

His phone rang and he looked down and saw it was Sydney. "You know you can come back to my desk."

"Lassie, something's up." He could hear wind around her.

"Where are you?"

"It doesn't matter." Her voice was low. "There some bad juju going down."

"Do you see something or see something?"

"A little of both to be honest." Lassiter heard shots from the direction of the front door. "Crap."

He heard a shot from over the phone. "If you got shot again, your father is going to kill me."

"Where's Sydney?" Spencer was right in front of his desk. More shots fired and Lassiter shot up and pulled out his gun. Nodding to Ohara –yeah she'd always be Ohara to him- he headed towards the front door. In the entryway there were a couple officers down, luckily none of the shots looked like they were fatal.

Behind him, he heard a click and turned to see a masked man holding a gun. "Oh, the head detective and his pretty little partner."

"Freeze, you're under arrest." Lassiter held up his gun.

"I don't think so detective." He turned to see another masked person, this time a woman, with her gun pointed straight at him.

He sighed, realizing he was surrounded. Above him he heard thumps and then a crash as a vent cover came off. A couple shots later and the two people were down, a gun sticking out of the vent cover.

"Lassie, we have a problem." He looked up to see Sydney sticking her head out of the vent.

"What are you doing up there?"

"Saving your life." She nodded to the two people. He heard some movement and took a step back as Sydney jumped down. She put her gun back in its ankle holster.

She pulled out her phone and sent a text. "We have a serious problem."

"Such as?" Lassiter asked as he heard people rush into the room.

Sydney nodded to the front doors and Lassiter noticed the windows were blackened. "The building's surrounded. We're trapped in here."

* * *

**Oh Shules is in the honeymoon stage. I saw it in my head and couldn't not write it. I feel like there will be a few more fun moments like that before our tale is done.**

**That's it for now. Til next time... :) **


	3. Stuck With Me

**Sorry about the delay guys, this is taking a little time to work itself out. Here's the next little bit. Read the note at the bottom, I have a question for you. **

* * *

Lassiter sat down in his chair with a sigh. How had he not seen this coming? They were stuck in their own station. This place that had become a sanctuary for him was now a prison.

On his watch, the station had been surrounded and they couldn't get out.

"Lassie, you need to relax." Sydney came over to sit with him and started ruffling through her bag.

"Relax? We are being held hostage in the station."

"Dude, trust me there are far worse places to be held hostage."

More often then he'd like to admit, Sydney would say something that made him think. And usually when she did that, she was right. "It was on my watch."

"And we'll figure this out, please hostage situations are so predictable." She reached into her bag and pulled out a book before putting her feet up on her desk. "We wait for them."

He leaned over and saw that it was one of the Harry Potter books. "How is it?"

She flipped to her spot. "Really good."

McNabb walked by and stopped. "Which one is that Sydney?"

"Goblet of Fire."

"Ooo, that's one of my favorites."

"I just started it. Hey Mcnab?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know if Woody's done with his initial report?"

McNabb shook his head. "I don't but I can find out."

"That would be awesome." As McNabb left she turned to read.

"You have a hunch?"

She looked up to answer his question. "Not sure yet. Figured I'd do some research while we wait for them to make their move."

Lassiter went back to his computer, the chief had said the same thing, wait for them. Why was everyone saying that?

As much as he hated to admit it, Spencer would agree with him. "Spencer, a word."

Both turned and with a sigh he clarified. "Jr."

Spencer came over and Lassiter led him away from where Sydney was reading. "Are we really going to sit here?"

"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

"I'd suggest you don't do that." Lassiter turned to see Sydney standing right behind him, book in hand.

"So you are going to sit here and read?"

Sydney paused and Lassiter could almost see the wheels turning in her head. "I haven't done that in a while."

Lassiter barely caught that. "Done what?"

"McNabb!" Sydney yelled and within seconds he was running up. "Do you know where the white board is stashed? And the projector now that I'm thinking about it." "

"Yeah."

"Can you grab it and set it up?" What was she up to?

"Sure thing. Oh, and Woody said he'd have the report to you within the hour."

He took off and Sydney turned back to Lassiter. "Get everyone together."

She walked away and Lassiter turned to Spencer who shrugged. "Don't look at me, I've stopped trying to figure out what she's thinking. She'll tell us when she's ready."

* * *

Shawn sat in Jules' seat and finally convinced her to sit on his lap. With a smile, he stole a kiss as Sydney walked over to the projector and plugged her computer in.

"It was six years ago, Paris France." Sydney's statement was so quiet, that Shawn almost missed it. Around him, the station quieted down listening.

Shawn felt Jules lean forward and he did the same. Not often Sydney talked about her past, at least in front of the entire station.

"We were held in a basement, my handler's cover blown. They thought I was an innocent kid. After all who lets a 12-year-old work in the CIA?"

She paused in front of Lassie's desk and sat on the pile of papers. "We weren't sure where our backup was, or if they even knew where we were being held. About two days in, we found out that they were holding us for ransom. Their agent and the kid for a friend, a known terrorist."

"What did they do? The United States doesn't' negotiate with terrorists?" Gus' voice came from behind Shawn.

"We waited, that's all we could do. We waited over a week in the dark basement. Finally, backup found a back way into the compound and our captors opened fire as they entered the basement where we were being kept."

Hopping off the desk, she started to weave between people. "My handler had been badly beaten, at the point she had been left for dead. I took her gun and let off a few shots before I got shot in my shoulder."

Making her way back to the projector. "Naturally, Mom had a cow. Not sure why it wasn't like that was the first time I'd been shot."

Shawn watched her as she made her way to the projector. Turning to Gus he saw a look that mirrored his thoughts. This kid, the one he'd only known about nine months, never ceased to surprise him. It seemed like everytime he thought he'd started to figure her out, she said something or did something that mentally took him back to square one.

It was frustrating, especially since he was always able to read people. Maybe that's why they say parenting is never easy…

"Dad, wanna come back to earth?" He looked up to see Sydney, and the rest of the precinct for that matter, looking his way.

"Sorry." He smiled and started playing with Jules' hair. She shifted her weight on his lap and leaned back.

"You ok?"

"Yeah, just trying to figure her out."

"So I was grounded for a couple months, but got to add yet another job to my resume."

Sydney clicked her clicker and a slide appeared. Lassie beat him to a smart comment. "Sydney's Guide to Hostage Situations?"

"It was originally Hostage Situations 101, but for this I changed the name."

Shawn heard movement behind him and saw the Chief step out of her office. "So what do you propose we do, Miss Collins?"

"How many officers do we have on the outside?" Sydney clicked again and a diagram came on the screen. "There's always three sides to this, hostages, the ones holding them hostage, and then the help. The help is the game changer here."

Shawn groaned. "Wait, are we relying on Jules' ex-boyfriend to get us out of here?"

"My ex boy… you mean Cameron?" Jules turned to face him.

"Wait, for the second time, I'm placing my life in the hands of Luntz?" Gus groaned.

"Protocol says this is his situation." Lassie's phone rang.

Sydney nodded to it and Shawn could see the hesitation on Chief Vick's face. The phone range twice, three times.

"Trust me Chief." Sydney picked up Lassie's phone. "SBPD, Detective Lassiter's desk. This is Sydney." … "Oh so you're the infamous Commander Luntz I've been hearing so much about." … "No, no good things sir."

She rolled her eyes and wrote something down. "No, we're fine. Tell whoever's keeping us in here that they can start planning the funerals for their friends."

At that moment, Buzz walked up the stairs, Woody behind him carrying a couple of folders. Shawn waved them over as Sydney held up the paper she'd been writing on.

Shawn had to hold in his laughter at what it said. _Has he always been this full of himself?_

He nodded and received an elbow in the side from Jules. "What?"

He received a glare as the room held in their laughter. Even Lassie had a smile on his face.

"Chief Vick? She's occupied." … "Does it matter?" … "Well sorry you got me this time." … "I'll let them know." … "Hold on, let me check."

"Does anyone need anything?"

"Food." Gus called out.

"Tell him if gets crappy toppings this time…" Shawn let the sentence trail off as Sydney repeated it.

"Ok, I'll pass the message along." Sydney hung up Lassie's phone. "Dude needs to chill."

The group snickered. "So what's chapter one in Sydney's Guide to Hostage Situations?" Gus finally sat down on the side of Jules' desk.

"Well we just ended it, what to do while waiting for the first call. Luntz doesn't know who's calling the shots for the other side. But he's going to try and find out."

"So what do we do?" Lassie's tone let Shawn know he was tired of waiting.

"A combination of things, one is to find out first."

"And the second?"

"The most important part."

"Which is?" Jules leaned forward allowing Shawn to do the same.

"Never get too tense, have a little fun with it."

Lassie scoffed. "And how do we do that? We're stuck here."

"I thought you'd never ask." She checked her watch. "The day shift ends in a little over an hour. Let's get some work done before then and then we'll have some fun."

* * *

**That's it for now! Trust me more is coming! **

**Odd question, not going to tell you what its for but if you could ask anyone in the station right now a truth or dare question who would it be and what would the question be? Let me know!**

**Til next time! :)**


	4. Mentor

**Back again! **

**It's going to be fun to see where this goes! Part of the reason this is taking so long is for once, I'm writing this as I go, not getting ahead. Sorry about that guys! **

**FantomFaire, some of your questions are answered here. Well, at least I started to answer them. **

**There's a line here that I hope you enjoy as much as I did. Hopefully, you'll know which one it is.**

* * *

6 years ago

"So how did you like teaching?" Sydney took a seat in one of the chairs in front of her commander's desk.

"You want me to be honest?" She crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair.

Her commander leaned forward. "I'd prefer it."

"Half of them won't make it to the year mark. The ones that do, a couple may prove me wrong, won't be cut out for some of the more… harsh missions. The other half will be average."

"No promise?"

"One did."

"Who?"

"Alex Temple." Sydney pulled his file out of her bag. "He was the only one to question my age on the first day. And he caught on pretty quick."

Her commander took the file, and gave it a look over. "Have you considered being a mentor?"

"Excuse me?"

"Sarah is going to be on a long term assignment, solo."

"Without a handler?" Sydney didn't hold in the smile.

"Without a handler. How would you like to take him under your wing."

"I'm a little young, don't you think."

That earned her a laugh. "Since when has that stopped you?"

"Fair enough." Sydney took the file back and tucked it into her bag. "I'll think about it."

"You're dismissed Sydney."

"Thanks." Sydney got up and headed for the door, and headed down the hallway.

She rolled her shoulders, wincing at how stiff her left shoulder still was. That bullet had done a number, that's for sure.

"Miss Collins?" Sydney turned to see Agent Temple rushing down the hall. Speak of the devil… She hid her smile.

"The class is over Agent Temple, you can call me Sydney."

He caught up to her. "Fine, but only if you call me Alex."

"Deal." Sydney continued down the hallway and Alex fell into step beside her. "How goes training?"

"A few more sessions and I should be cleared for field duty." Sydney heard the excitement in his voice and didn't hide her smile. "How's your shoulder?"

"A lot better, I'm hoping to be able to go back to field duty soon. No offense, but I'd rather deal with a mission than new recruits." Words couldn't express how much Sydney missed the field, the excitement, the danger, the chance to challenge herself.

Alex laughed as Sydney slid her card and entered a room. "None taken, from what I've heard you've been missed out there."

She smiled as she took the laser gun from the rack, handing an extra to Alex. "Ever used this before?"

Not waiting for his answer, she went and set the computer to the hardest level. "Once, but it kicked my butt, and I wasn't anywhere near the level you have it set to."

Sydney finished setting up the simulator and turned. "Well then," She turned to the open door. "Watch my back and you may just learn something."

* * *

Agent Alex Temple put on his sunglasses as he stepped out of his car. What was it about dangerous situations that drew crowds? With a sigh, he started making his way through the crowd and to the police station ahead.

Weaving his way to the tape (not an easy task considering how tight the crowd was), he held in a sigh as a lost looking officer stopped him. "Sorry sir, this is a restricted area."

Alex pulled out his badge. "Those happen to be my specialty."

He ducked under the tape and took in the situation like his mentor taught him. The station was about thirty yards away and Alex could see some sort of black material all over the doors and windows. There were two distinct groups, the officers trying to get a handle on the situation (they weren't doing a good job at it) and then a group of people near the station holding guns and…

Alex strained and saw something by all the windows, by the front doors as well. He groaned as he realized that there were explosives all around the building. Something told him he didn't want to know where the detonator was.

"Who's in charge?"

"Of which camp?" An officer turned to him, eyeing him with suspicion.

"Either, both." He held out his badge.

The officer's eyes went wide and he pointed over to where a middle-aged man was shouting orders. "Commander Luntz is in charge."

"Thank you." Alex kept his badge out and walked over. "What's the latest Commander?"

Luntz eyed him, eyes narrowing. "And you are?"

Flashing the badge, he was getting tired of this, he let out an annoyed sigh. "Agent Alex Temple, CIA."

Luntz straightened up. "Well…" He cleared his throat. "We managed to get them to allow some food in."

"Who's calling the shots?"

"We're not sure yet."

"Have the made any demands yet?" Alex considered rolling his eyes but a voice in the back of his head advised against it.

"Not yet, we have reason to believe that the person calling the shots isn't even here yet."

"With all due respect Commander, I'm going to be taking over things from here." He nodded to the station and pulled out his phone. "My mentor is in there and I'd like to make sure things go smoothly."

* * *

Shawn was shocked at how quickly the station settled back into a business as usual mode. Well, as close to business as usual as they could get, considering the circumstances.

"Dad, I'm heading down to ask Woody some questions. Want to tag along?" Sydney held the case file she'd asked for.

"Sure thing." He got up from his chair at the conference table. Sydney had taken over the room, declaring it Psych's headquarters during the situation. "Back in a bit guys."

Gus barely looked up from where he was playing some sort of game on a borrowed laptop. "Tell Woody I said hi."

"Will do, can you behave yourself while I'm gone Papa Bear?" Shawn turned to where his Dad was working a crossword puzzle.

He held in a laugh at the glare he received. "Better than you can. Now go hurry up so I can go home."

"But of course, we don't want you missing tonight's Duck Dynasty. Though I heard there's a murder mystery show that comes on at the same time that's way better."

His Dad let out a snort and went back to his puzzle and Shawn slipped out of the conference room after shutting his borrowed laptop.

Sydney made her way to the bullpen and Shawn hurried to catch up with her as she headed down the stairs. A few turns later, and she was at Woody's office.

"Woody!" Sydney rushed into the office. "What's the word?"

"Lagopodous"

Shawn stepped into the office. "Which means?"

"Like a rabbit's foot." Woody held up a bowl of strawberries and nodded to the cream. "Would either of you care for a snack?"

"I just ate." Sydney turned and made a face.

Shawn held in a laugh. "Not this time but thanks Woody."

"What can you tell us about our friends?" Sydney nodded to the two bodies that sat on the table.

"First off, whoever shot them knew what they were doing."

Sydney shrugged. "Really? I was worried, it's not easy to get a good shot while hang upside down from an air vent."

"You did this from an air vent?" Woody lifted the sheet and Shawn saw the bullet hole. She had put it right in the heart.

He turned to see Sydney putting on a pair of gloves, not phased that she had killed the person on the table. "How many?"

"How many what?" Woody and Sydney turned to him. Sydney was checking the man's wrist.

"How many people…"

"How many people have I killed?" Sydney turned the body so she could see the back.

Shawn watched her for a second; she was acting like this was another autopsy. "Yeah."

"A few." She brought back to its flat position. "It was part of the job, Dad."

Shawn let out a sigh. "So why the rush on Woody's report?"

Sydney handed him the clipboard. "I noticed something on his wrist when I popped out of the vent."

He went over and looked at the wrist and saw a tattoo there. Then he realized that he'd seen it before. "The drug ring."

"Same tattoo." Sydney nodded to him. "The number on his back is lower than any I've seen. Which makes me think, we caught the attention of the big dogs."

"But we have Jameson in custody." All the recon they'd done had led them to believe she was the leader.

"Jameson must answer to someone. And that someone doesn't want us finding out something. Or wants to keep us from acting on it."

Shawn went to say something, but her phone rang and she smiled when she checked it. "They finally assign you a rookie? Give you a taste of your own medicine?"

She switched into French and left Woody's office. Shawn turned and let out a sigh. "Something tells me I'd better follow her."

"At least she's not yelling in French."

"Are we still on for karaoke this weekend?" Shawn opened the door.

"Wouldn't miss it, don't forget Gus, we need him for the harmony."

"He would kill me if I forgot him." Shawn laughed as he headed out of the office in search of Sydney.

* * *

"Lassie, my hunch turned into a vibe." Lassiter looked up to see Sydney hanging up her phone. "First off, I'm sensing everyone might want to stay away from the windows."

"Why?" He put down the file he'd been working on. Sydney came and sat in a rolling chair, pushing herself so she landed just beside him.

"Not sure yet. I'm just getting that vibe. Oh and we may want to look into that drug ring more. When the spirits get off the topic of the explosives, they like to wander there."

"There you are!" Lassiter looked up to see Spencer Jr. running up the stairs.

"Sorry Dad, I had an important message to pass along to Lassie." She grabbed Lassie's arm and pulled him to the side. "And one more thing."

"What?"

"We might want to consider the possibility of a mole."

"Do you realize what you're implying?" The last thing Lassiter ever wanted to consider was a dirty cop.

"More than you realize."

"Dad, I am perfectly capable of figuring this out." Both turned to see Henry storm out of the conference room.

"Oh yeah, if you were so capable you would have divined that there was more to this case."

"So you're saying it's my fault!"

Henry let out a sigh as Lassiter reentered the bullpen with Sydney. "That's not what I'm saying and you know it."

Spencer went and started pacing by the window. "You know, I think we set a record for longest time in between fights."

Henry let out a chuckle. "I think we did."

"Think we can break it again?"

"It's worth a shot."

Lassiter heard a gasp beside him but it didn't register that it was Sydney. "Dad!"

Turning to her, he saw her charging for her father and knocked him to the ground. A second later, a shot rang out coming through the window just where Shawn had been standing.

* * *

**For the record, Woody used a real word. I may have googled funny English words. **

**A lot of the discussions started here are far from finished. **

**That's it for now! Til next time... :) **


	5. Why Santa Barbara?

**What you are about to enjoy is perhaps the longest fanfic chapter I've ever written. (holds for applause) I'm actually feeling really accomplished.**

**For those of you who enjoyed Sydney's spy side last story, there's some of it here for you (spoiler!)**

**You know, its fun how a character you thought would be really minor actually turns out to play a major role. It adds to the fun of seeing where this is going.**

**Ok, enough from me for now, get reading! (I know You Know you want to)**

**:) **

* * *

Shawn hit the ground as a shot rang out. The station grew deathly quiet. After a few seconds, Shawn realized he had his eyes closed and opened them to see Jules, Lassie, Gus, and his Dad all crowded around him.

The weight on top of him moved and after a second was gone. He turned to see Sydney staring at the window, gun out. The hole from the bullet was being covered over but Shawn could just make out a wrist.

Sure enough, the now familiar tattoo was there and then gone as the material was replaced.

Still, Sydney didn't move, didn't lower her gun, didn't look away from the window. Shawn recognized the look on her face but took a second to place it.

"The game is over Peters" Shawn looked up to see Sydney placing herself between him and Peters. He'd never seen her like that, her body that tense and an unreadable look on her face. "But how is it going to end?"

"Sydney, relax." Shawn got up and dusted himself off. His right leg stung a little, but nothing too bad. Especially considering he'd broken it barely two months ago.

But first things first, find the bullet. Second, calm down Sydney.

"Shawn! I leave you alone for a few minutes and you almost get yourself shot." Gus came up beside him, his traditional worry-wort face on.

"Gus, don't be the last kid picked for the dodge ball team. I was about to duck anyways…"

"No you weren't Shawn, if it hadn't been for Sydney."

"Relax guys." Sydney was staring at a spot in the wall. "Dad's fine, my hunch is right, and…"

She walked forward and she pulled something out of the door frame of the chief's office. "Someone analyze the bullet and I want the results ASAP."

An officer came up with an evidence bag and Sydney slipped the bullet in before pulling out her phone and disappearing into the conference room.

He'd deal with her later… yeah that sounded like a good plan. Let her calm herself down… no need to fuel the fire. And if he was honest, when she got like that it kinda scared him.

Note to self, never be on the receiving end of that mood…

Shawn turned to see Jules watching him. "Are you sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine, granted that shot threw me off guard." He took a step away from the window. "Maybe I'll stay away from that from now on."

Jules took his hand and held it tightly. "I thought you were going to try and stay out of dangerous situations?"

"We both know I'm attracted to them like I am to pineapple." He leaned in to steal a quick kiss.

"If you two start getting mushy again I swear I'll cuff both of you to opposite sides of the station." Shawn looked over to see Lassie glaring at them from behind his computer.

"That's a little harsh, don't you think Lassie?" Shawn walked Jules back to her desk, all three steps. "You've got…" He glanced at the clock on her computer. "a half-hour left in your shift. Then we'll see what fun Sydney has in store for us."

He turned to head back into the conference room, might as well get some work done. "Maybe we'll find some fun of our own."

* * *

"So was it your dad specifically, or just the fact that he was by the window." Alex walked away from the group, but still kept the conversation in French.

"Not sure, I'm assuming it was just cause he was at the window. We can't see out and I doubt they can see in." He heard Sydney's footsteps echoing down a hallway and figured she was trying to find somewhere to talk.

"But what about a mole?"

"You think there's one too?" There was surprise mixed with pride in her voice.

"From what I've heard, this happened too easily."

"That's what I think, I guess I'll have to play find the mole."

Alex made a face. "I know that's your favorite game."

"Oh, you know its right up there with let's go get a cavity filled." He could almost hear her make a face

That caused Alex to laugh. "Glad civilian life hasn't ruined your sense of humor."

"Did you think it would?"

"Not really."

"What brought you to Santa Barbara anyways?"

"I was on assignment in Los Angeles and decided to spend a few extra days out here before going back to Washington."

The footsteps on the other end of the line stopped as a door opened and shut. "So, either you need my help, advice, or you missed me."

Alex rolled his eyes. "You don't miss it at all? Sydney Collins, model for rookies all over the CIA, doesn't miss it one bit."

The pause on the other end answered his question. Finally, she let out a sigh. "Sure, sometimes I miss it. I miss the thrill, the challenge, the traveling. But do I miss the lies, the hours alone, the long periods of time away from home? Not so much."

"There's so much more to it than that."

Sydney let out a hollow laugh. "You remember who you're talking to right? My head knows that, but…"

Alex let out a sigh as he remembered that day. She didn't like how close to home LWK had brought them and had asked him to go check on her mom while she finished the job.

He'd been the one to find her, the one that had to tell Sydney over their line, and then watch her enter the room. He was the one to stand by the table that had seen many a case over the nine years they'd worked together, as she…

One image he'd never be able to erase from his mind was seeing Sydney hold her mom, seeing the tears that fell, seeing her invoke the clause.

He's stayed there and processed the scene, like he was have trusted it to anyone, like Sydney would have trusted anyone else to handle it. He'd gone home, and for the first time in a while allowed his wife to hold him as he cried himself to sleep, hoping his daughter wouldn't wake up and hear.

"Alex?"

Then the funeral, he'd been right by her side. His wife had left their little girl with her mom and come with him; he wasn't sure if it was for his benefit or Sydney's. A lot of the seats that had been filled were because of Sydney. Like Alex, they'd been there for her.

Afterwards, he'd gone over to check on her a few to check on her. For the first week or so, it seemed like she'd died when her mom had.

But then something happened.

"Alex?"

He wasn't sure what, but he'd come over and she'd been packing, the life in her eyes slowly returning. She'd shown him a binder, filled with pictures of a guy who had her eyes. Turns out she had his eyes.

She'd found her father, her mom's last gift.

"Hey Temple! Snap out of it!" Alex heard Sydney yelling in his ear.

"What?" He pulled the phone away from his ear.

"Welcome back." He could see the smirk she had on her face. "How are Janice and Kelsey?"

"Doing great. Kelsey misses her Aunt Sydney."

That earned him a chuckle. "Miss her too. She starts kindergarten soon doesn't she?"

"Less than two weeks. And Janice is expecting again."

"No she's not!"

He laughed. "Yup, we go for our first ultrasound in a couple weeks."

"Oh my gosh! That's awesome! Congrats!"

"Thanks."

"Agent Temple, we may have an update." One of the officers got his attention.

"Took them long enough." Sydney muttered. "Put it on speaker and put it in your pocket."

"Shouldn't you play good little hostage and wait for me to rescue you?"

Now he could see the glare he was getting. "Since when have I done something stupid like that?"

With a sigh, Alex slid his phone into his pocket and came over to where Luntz was talking with a group of officers. "What do we have?"

He pointed over to where a group was huddled by the front door of the station. "We're trying to find their frequency now and tap in but something is happening."

His phone let out a ping and he pulled it out of his pocket.

**Sounds like the big dogs may have come to play**

"Get me on that frequency ASAP." Alex tucked his phone back into his pocket.

"Yes sir." The officers turned back to the SWAT truck.

* * *

11 months ago

"Santa Barbara? Why Santa Barbara?"

Sydney didn't even look up from the box she was packing. She finished and grabbed the binder and tossed it to Alex. "That's why."

Silence filled the room for a few minutes as Sydney finished packing up the living room. Boxes lined a wall and were marked, Sydney didn't know what she'd want right away and what she'd want down the road.

"Wait, this Shawn Spencer, he's your…"

"My father." Sydney could barely believe that after rears of wondering, questioning, and dreaming of him, she'd actually found her father.

Behind her, Alex let out a sigh. "When do you leave?"

Sydney was relieved he wasn't trying to talk her out of this.

"In a few days. I've got a Pod coming tomorrow and all that's left to pack up is my room and the kitchen. I'm going to put most of this into storage and take a few bags with me."

She unfolded the map that was on the table and took a seat on the couch. "See, I'm going to head up to NYC on Friday and spend a few days up there. I'm going to enter the Wicked raffle and cross that off my list."

Alex came and took a seat beside her as she mapped out her seven-week trip with various stops. "I should end up in Santa Barbara around Thanksgiving."

"You've thought this through."

Sydney nodded. "I have, plus I have to do this. I have to find him."

She heard Alex get up. "Well then, how about we start packing up that kitchen and then we'll call Janice and Kels and have dinner."

"Cheesecake Factory?"

"If you're nice I might even pay for your Pineapple Cheesecake." Alex headed into the kitchen. Sydney folded up her map and with a sigh followed the sound of cabinets opening.

* * *

Lassiter went through the file on his desk. Sydney was sure that the case with the Matka and their current situation were connected. Spencer was backing her up, which meant he had to see if he could come to that conclusion as well.

The clock on his laptop reminded him that he should be about ready to go home. A quick glance at the still blackened windows told him that wasn't happening any time soon.

"Combien de temps pouvez-vous me faire de cette information?" (1) Lassiter turned to see Sydney walking back up the stairs, still on the phone with her mystery caller.

Though the fact that she was speaking in French gave him the idea it was a friend from the CIA.

"Etes-vous sûr que vous ne pouvez pas l'obtenir plus tôt?" (2)

She walked past him and headed to the conference room, letting out a sigh. "Faites-moi savoir dès que vous l'obtenez" (3)

"Au revoir" (4) She paused at the door of the conference room, hanging up her phone. Instead of going in, she made a pit stop at the coffee pot.

Wonder what she wanted; he picked out the word information. Probably had something to do with her hunch, about the Matka. And to think, a couple hours ago he'd thought he'd seen the last of that drug ring.

Why were they coming back to bite him in the butt?

He turned back to his computer, figuring he'd get something done before Sydney took over the station. For the last twenty minutes, he could feel the anticipation growing, wondering exactly what she had in mind.

Lassiter had enjoyed the earlier part, the technical stuff, the protocol, the inside glimpse inside the CIA. But he could tell it was part 2, the fun that everyone was looking forward to.

Maybe even that would give them a glimpse inside…

A shadow came over his desk and he looked up to see Sydney holding a second cup. "Figured you probably need this as much as I do."

He took it. "Thanks."

McNabb walked up with a folder. "Ballistics just finished their report on the bullet that was fired."

Lassiter took the folder and heard Sydney move around so she could read over his shoulder. After a second he turned to face her. "You're right."

"About?"

He sat the folder on his desk. "The bullet matches the guns we found the Matka dealers using."

"How about we go see if our friend downstairs talks?" Sydney picked up her cup and turned towards the stairs leading to the holding cells.

Lassiter picked up his cup and followed her. "Best idea I've heard all day."

"I haven't done a good interrogation in a while, this should be fun."

Something about her tone made Lassiter uneasy as he went to the holding cells and brought Jameson into an interrogation room.

He'd just gotten her chained to the table when Sydney joined him.

"Wait, so you bringing in her? What's she going to do, sass me into squealing?"

Lassiter started to respond, but Sydney let out a hollow laugh. "You wish."

Sydney circled the table so she was standing behind Jameson. "This is how this is going to go. See the man across from you?"

She forced Jameson's head so that Lassiter was looking her in the eyes. "He's going to ask you some questions, and you are going to answer them, oh and you're going to give him the respect he deserves."

"What if I don't want to?" Jameson wore a defiant smirk, arms crossed.

Sydney let go of her head so that she could lean in close. "Let's just say, I get real creative to get what I don't want. But I'm pretty sure you don't want to go that route."

"Let's add to the fact that you have answers as to why we're being held hostage in our own station, oh and one of your little friends outside shot my Dad. And that might have brought out my cranky side."

Looking around the room, she got an odd look on her face before turning down to look Jameson in the eyes. "I see a dozen ways to bring you to the point that you'd be screaming for me to let you pass out, wishing for relief. And I wouldn't have to leave the room for any of them. In fact, there are several I could do without moving from this spot."

She bent down and Lassiter watched her pat her ankle. " And if that fails, I don't miss. Ever."

"Not only am I creative, I'm pretty flexible. The choice is yours."

Jameson swallowed but Lassiter was too busy staring at Sydney. Next time he couldn't get a suspect to crack, he needed to remember to call her in. Shoot, she was even scaring him.

He cleared his throat, leaning forward on the table. "Let me remind you, we have more than enough to lock you away for a long, long time."

Jameson was breaking, Lassiter could tell.

Sydney came back and settled into the chair next to him, her feet up on the table causing her jeans to ride up just enough so you could see the gun sticking out.

Twenty minute later, he was heading back up the stairs following a smug Sydney into the bullpen. "Were there really a dozen ways?"

Sydney turned to him. "Ask me no questions, I tell you no lies."

"There you are Detective Lassiter. Please tell me someone has a lead and maybe an idea of how we're getting out of here." Chief Vick came out of her office, looking pretty frazzled.

Lassiter cleared his throat. "Well you see Chief…"

"Uncle Lassie just performed an interrogation that I'm quite disappointed will not earn him the Tony, Emmy, KCA, that he deserves. Dad and I divined a few pieces but sadly there are a few pieces missing."

"Well find the pieces." She went back into her office.

"Uncle Lassie?" He turned to her and received an innocent smile.

"You said I could."

"I said you could call me Lassie." Lassiter took a seat as his desk, regretting agreeing to that.

She headed back to the conference room and paused before entering. "I've heard it both ways."

* * *

**She started going in that interrogation room and I just let her. I wasn't about to stop her! **

**Translations (compliments of Google Translate so if they're wrong...)**

**1. How soon can you get me that information?**

**2. Are you sure you can't get it sooner?**

**3. Let me know as soon as you get it**

**4. Bye**

**Oh and yes, there's a reason why Shawn is completely missing from that last scene. :) **

**I think that's it. I feel like I had a really witty author's note, but I can't remember...**

**Oh well. Til next time... :) **


	6. Not It

**Sorry about the delay guys! This didn't want to gel, but I finally figured out how to make it work.** **For the most part, this is fluff but I did put a little plot in for you. (just a little)**

** I'm putting a tag to my other fanfic, Lefty. It's really a reference and the OCs from there make an appearance here. (I may have to give them a whole ****fic with Sydney.) You don't have to read it, it could go either way. **

** But on the mention of spoiler tags, I have to include one for Juliet Takes a Luvvah and Cirque de Solei. **

** Enough from me, go ahead and read and I'll see you on the other side.**

* * *

Lassiter sat down the file again, realizing he was getting nowhere. A quick glance into the conference room showed him that Sydney wasn't either. She was sitting in one of the chairs, tuning a guitar.

He did a double take. Where did she get a guitar?

"Lassiter, have you seen Shawn?" A shadow came over his desk and he looked up to find Henry.

"Haven't seen him for a while." Lassiter looked over and groaned when he saw his partner's desk empty. He nodded to it. "But chances are I know who he's with."

Henry turned and followed Lassiter's line of sight. "He wouldn't."

"This is your son we're talking about."

"But Juliet... really?"

"She loses all reason when it comes to that man-child. No offense." He leaned back in his chair.

"None taken." Henry pulled up a chair. "Did you know Sydney could play?"

"I didn't, but I find she's harder to crack than any of the criminals I've dealt with."

"I hear that, you think you've started to figure her out and she says or does something that makes you think." Guster came and brought a seat over.

Exactly what Lassiter thought. "Hey Guster, where's your twin?"

"Like I know."

He didn't hold in a sigh. "So do we go find them, or…"

"Them?"

Lassiter nodded to Ohara's empty desk and watched as realization dawned on Guster's face. "Dude, he's like my brother I don't want to walk in on him doing that."

"He's my kid, I changed his diapers and even I don't want to see that." Henry leaned back and crossed his legs.

"Relax guys, they'll show up eventually. And I feel like he'd appreciate that, Gramps. Especially after he walked in on you and Grandma."

Lassiter looked up to see Sydney holding the guitar. "Wait he what now?"

"Back not too long after I got shot, Maddie came to check on me and we may have… and he may have…"

Lassiter held up his hand. "I get it."

"This coming from the man who took a bubble bath with his girlfriend in another man's house."

"You did what now?" Henry's jaw dropped.

"We didn't have a choice! Ursula, was making our lives miserable… and I'd waited forever… and we…"

"First off, I need to leave this conversation before I hear more things I was better off not knowing. Secondly, how about we take a break and get this party started?"

"What's first in Sydney's Guide to Hostage Situations?"

Sydney stood up. "In any situation, it's important to stay loose. Come on!"

She grabbed Guster and pulled him out of his seat. "You too Lassie! I've heard you have a few moves."

"Who told her about that?"

"No one, I re-organized Psych's filing system when I was laid up after getting shot in the foot. Though I may have burned myself a copy of the DVD of you tap dancing with the little kids."

Lassiter wanted to know how Spencer got a hold of a copy of that…. He'd figure that out later. "I don't… I mean I have a few times since then… but I mean…"

"Come on Lassie." Sydney turned to him, eyes wide.

"That doesn't work."

She stuck her lip out and Lassiter let out a sigh. Leave it to Spencer to have a kid that even he couldn't refuse…

With a sigh he got up. "Ok, this is sorta kinda going under things you can't talk about."

"What does that mean?" Lassiter loosened his tie, not believing he was about to do this.

"Two years ago, it was discovered that weapons were coming onto the black market from Italy. The front for the weapons dealer was a record company in Rome."

"Rome, great pizza." Lassiter turned to see Shawn walking up the stairs, hand in hand. "Lassie, is it causal Friday?"

"No teasing Lassie, Dad. Get over here, you too Jules." Sydney opened her laptop and played with it for a second. "Anyways they needed someone to go in and infiltrate the record company so that they could get to the arms dealers."

"So what, you posed as an intern?" Lassiter rolled up his sleeves, still not sure what was going on." A program pulled up on Sydney's laptop but Lassiter didn't recognize it.

She let out a laugh. "There was an Italian pop star, she came out of no-where and swept the charts of Europe. Her name was Rozalia Monet. Her friends called her Roz, her fans picked it up too."

She had a habit of doing that. Not really answering his question but answering it at the same time.

"She was starting to climb the charts here, opened for Dreamer here in the US a couple of years ago. Tour prep was here in Santa Barbara…"

For some reason, an odd look crossed Sydney face.

"I remember that tour." Lassiter turned to see Chief Vick coming out of her office, looking like she was ready to shoot someone. If she was taking suggestions, he'd nominate Spencer. "security was ridiculous."

"Not to mention, they managed to stumble across a body and leave us with one heck of a case." Lassiter once again saw the odd look cross Sydney's face. He'd seen it on Spencer's a few times right before he had a vision that put all the pieces in place.

"I'm sorry, Miss Collins but what does this have to do with anything?" Chief Vick took a seat on the edge of Lassiter's desk.

"Here, just a few miles away. Not even that…" Her response was quiet, she was talking more to herself. In fact, she looked unnerved which was a rare occurance.

"Syd?" Spencer walked over to her, concerned. "What is it?"

"We met… we met two years ago." She turned away from him before swinging back around. "We talked and the whole time I had no idea."

"When did you meet?" Ohara, yup she'd always be Ohara to him, was wearing a look of confusion and concern.

"Rozalia Monet wasn't exactly what she appeared to be."

"I'd say, I sensed she was wearing a wig and her accent was totally fake." Spencer's comment received a look of surprise from Sydney. Something else that didn't happen a lot, guess this was the day for that.

"Her friends knew her as Roz. But the ones that really knew her, and I mean really knew her called her… they called her Sydney behind closed doors."

"So we met…" Lassiter saw the realization hit Spencer.

"We met two years ago and didn't even know it."

Two Years Ago

Sydney stepped out of her dressing room and for the – quite frankly she's lost track of how many times remembered just how hot it was under this wig.

She also lost track of how many times she wished she could sleep in her own bed or drink tea with her mom at the table. Being undercover for almost a year really sucked.

"I'm sensing you're the opening act, Rozalia isn't it?" Sydney turned to see a man, not much taller than her leaning up against a wall, a cocky smile filling his face.

"You sensed?"

"Shawn Spencer, head psychic for the SBPD." He held out his hand and Sydney shook it and felt him slide her something. She looked to see a business card with a big green Psych on it.

"The police have a psychic?" Sydney had heard of a lot of odd things precincts did in order to keep crime under control, but a psychic? That was a new one.

"Technically I'm a consultant." The psychic fell in step with her. That would explain the card.

"How does it work, do you stop crimes before they happen?" Shoot, could he close this case for her. Wow, she really must be desperate if she was willing to stoop to that level.

She saw him hesitate. "I tend to read things in the present, you know auras and vibes."

"Fair enough, but anyone could have guess who I am, Mr. Spencer." He was going to have to do a lot more to convince her.

And so much for the easy finish…

"Mr. Spencer is my father. I'm Shawn."

"Well then, Shawn, why should I believe you?"

"You don't have to. And trust me, I don't blame you for being a little cranky, it's hotter than you wish it was. In fact, I bet you are wishing for a bowl of Mint Chocolate Chip right about now."

One point for him. And he was right, a bowl of ice cream sounded amazing right about nnow.

"Lucky guess."

"Shawn, are you bothering Rozalia Monet?" Sydney looked up to see a black man at the food table backstage.

"Gus, don't be a fan without a meet and greet. I wasn't bothering her, merely chatting with her." Shawn turned to face her. "Rozalia, this is my partner, Air Guitar."

"Burton Guster, but you can call me Gus." The man held out his hand and Sydney shook it.

"There you are Roz!" Sydney turned to see Nathan Adams come into the backstage area.

"We've been looking all over." His brother Zack joined them with brother number three, Aaron close behind.

"I was hiding in my dressing room with the AC cranked up." That much was the truth, even DC was cooler than this. Last check had it at over 100 degrees.

"Ready for one last dress rehearsal?" She turned to see the stage manager tapping his clipboard. "Roz, they're almost ready for you."

She turned to see Nathan give her a subtle, encouraging nod before turning to greet the newcomers. "Detectives, you're just in time. Roz is about to go on."

Sydney turned to see a lanky man coming into the backstage area and he looked extremely out of place, especially in his suit. The blonde that followed smiled and Sydney followed her eye line to Shawn.

"Roz, Head Detective Carlton Lassiter and his partner, Detective Juliet Ohara."

"Pleasure to meet you." She shook hands with the detectives, feeling a little better. Some people might be uneasy at the vibe the head detective was giving off but Sydney found it soothing, calming. A little bit of normal in the sea of crazy that was this mission.

"Roz, we need you over here." A stagehand waved her over, holding a monitor."

"Break a leg, Roz." Aaron flashed her an encouraging smile.

"I'm sensing, you'll do great. You don't need to be nervous." Once again, he hit it on the nail. She was a CIA agent, not a musician. The idea of going out there and performing live, even though she'd done it before, was terrifying.

She walked over to the stage manager, hoping Shawn's prediction was right.

Lassiter watched as Sydney pushed a few buttons on her laptop and a beat rang out through the speakers. "Alright watch and follow along if you can."

She launched into a routine and Lassiter noticed that she seemed to hold herself a little different. It was almost like she was slipping on another skin.

"Uncle Lassie, you're not keeping up." Sydney snapped him back to reality.

He hadn't even seen her turn around. With a sigh, he tried to follow along. She ran through the routine a few times before picking up the guitar and played it along to the beat.

"Keep it up guys." She started into a catchy up-beat tune that Lassiter vaguely remembered hearing on the radio at some point.

Turning, he saw his partner and Guster really getting into it. He knew about Guster and dancing but Ohara?

Guess even she could surprise him now and then.

Shawn joined in with the party and couldn't wipe the smile off his face when Sydney started singing. He'd caught her a couple times, but it didn't get old.

Oh great, he was starting to sound like one of those parents…

Leaving the first song behind, she launched into another one and Shawn used the chance to sit on Jules' desk and just watch. Well to watch and continue to wrap his mind around the fact they he'd met Sydney.

He'd been face to face with his own daughter and didn't even know it.

He had talked to his daughter, hung out with her, beaten her in a smoothie drinking contest (barely but hey it was a victory) and didn't realize that she was his.

And he was supposed to be hyper observant…

"Dad, no sitting around!" He snapped back to the present as Sydney got his attention.

With a sigh he got up and was surprised to see a couple members of the gang unit had joined their dance party. Rumor had it they'd hooked one of the projectors up and were streaming an Alias marathon.

Oddly enough, it was about a spy named Sydney. Hmm, he'd never be able to watch that show the same way again.

"Daddy! Let's do a duet." Shawn turned to see Sydney staring at him with her big eyes.

Why did she have to have such an irresistible puppy-dog face?

"What did you have in mind?"

She pushed a couple buttons and a keyboard-based track came on and she added guitar to it.

Rolling his eyes, he came over and joined in. Around him, people were dancing around and if he ignored the windows, he could almost pretend they were having an office party.

Maybe Sydney's guide to hostage situations wouldn't be so bad after all…

The sun was setting as Alex heard music coming from the station. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that was Rozalia Monet's old single.

He laughed quietly. "Oh Sydney would."

"Sir?" Alex turned around to see on of the officers getting his attention. "We tapped into their phones."

"Thank you." Alex came over and picked up a set of headphones.

"Are you sure they are trapped in there?" A female voice came over the line.

"Positive, everything went according to plan."

"Good, keep going as planned and I'll join you there if I can. And make sure to save the psychic and his kid for me." The call ended and Alex put down his headphones.

"Sounds like we're just getting started." Alex turned to the window of the police station before facing an officer. "Find someone to keep the coffee coming, its gong to be a long night."

* * *

**I don't own Alias, I was on Netflix and saw the name of the main character and needed a TV show and couldn't pass up using it. **

**There's also something Sydney touched on, that I'm interested in seeing being brought up again. **

**That whole bit at the beginning. I started writing it and couldn't take it out. And then Lassie gave me that little bit to use from last week's episode. I couldn't not use it. **

**Thanks for all the reviews guys! I appreciate it a lot. Keep them coming and don't forget suggestions. I seriously don't know where this is going and who knows, you might help me figure it out. (it's happened before)**

**Til next time... :) **


	7. How Many Times?

**Sorry about the delay guys! Life has been a little crazy lately and a couple of the scenes weren't quite working right. But I hope that the fact that this is the longest chapter yet. **

**Spoiler alert! I don't own Chuck or any of its characters.**

**see you on the other side! :) **

* * *

The dance party continued in the bullpen but Shawn noticed that Sydney had disappeared. So had Gus for that matter…

Gus was the easiest to find, he'd stepped into the conference room and was on the phone. "Mom, relax I'm fine." … "Yes, Sydney's fine too." … "I'll keep you posted." … "Yes Mom." …

He looked up and Shawn could see the relief on his face that he had a reason to get off the phone. "Mom, Shawn just stepped in. I've got to go."

"Don't worry Mrs. G, I'll take good care of Burton for you." Shawn received a glare from Gus as he hung up the phone.

"Apparently, this is all over the news."

"Well, duh." Shawn sat down in a chair and put his feet up. "Have you see Syd?"

"I thought she was out there dancing." Gus nodded behind him.

"She disappeared about ten minutes ago." Shawn turned to face Gus. "You know something?"

"What?" Gus plopped down in the chair beside him.

"This needs to happen more often. I know its only been a couple of weeks, but how much has this happened?"

"What? Being trapped in a police station?"

Shawn rolled his eyes and let out a sigh. "I'm actually being half what serious for once."

"I thought serious Shawn came with a disclaimer. Like with Nadia."

"It didn't when Dad was shot." Shawn shook the memory of that time away.

"That was different."

Shawn turned to face Gus. "I thought I was the one to take us off topic."

"Shawn, what is it?"

Shawn let out another sigh and got up and paced around the table. "I could really go for a pineapple smoothie right now."

"Now you're changing the subject." Shawn turned to see Gus giving him the all too familiar get to the point look.

"This, us."

"What about us?"

Shawn faced Gus from across the table. "In the last 11 months, I've found out I have a kid and I've gotten married."

"Crazy isn't it."

"And maybe I'm just worried that…" Shawn looked down, confused at his own thoughts.

"Shawn." Shawn heard Gus get up and walk around the table. "Do you really think that all of this is going to split us up? I'm afraid you are stuck with me."

"It's really the other way around." Shawn felt the smile return to his face.

"When we get out of here, we'll have a movie night. No Sydney, no Jules, no cases, just you, me, Red Vines, smoothies, popcorn, and Austin Powers."

"You know buddy, that's the best idea you've had in a long time." Shawn pulled Gus into a hug. "Now let's go track down Sydney. I'm sensing her mystery caller might help us get out of here."

"Who's her mystery caller?"

"Lassie tipped me off on that one. It has to be a CIA contact." Shawn opened the door and the volume increased. "She's somewhere quiet, I've noticed Sydney can party with the best of them, but she needs her quiet after awhile."

"So we have to find somewhere quiet." Gus had to raise his voice a bit to be heard over the volume of music.

"That means she's not with the gang unit, they're having a Netflix marathon."

"Really, what are they watching?"

"Alias, last I heard."

"Isn't the main character of that a spy named Sydney?"

"Weird isn't it." Shawn opened the Chief's door and slipped inside.

"What can I do for you Mr. Spencer?" Shawn jumped and whirled around to find Chief Vick at her desk.

"Chief, I umm…" Shawn looked around but didn't see Sydney. "I was looking for Sydney, have you seen her?"

"Not since she started that." She nodded to the dance party. Shawn turned to see Gus back in the middle of the crowd. "Something wrong Mr. Spencer?"

Shawn sat down with a sigh. "Ever wonder if you're missing something, something that's right in front of your face?"

"Are you getting a vision or vibration or… whatever it is that you get?" She gave him a hopeful look.

"No, it's a regular feeling in the pit of my stomach. I've had it for over a week now." But in the last few hours, the feeling had grown. Whatever he was missing, it was key to the mess they were in now. And that one was a pretty song hunch. "But I'm sensing whatever it is, it's the key to this mess."

"Well, I trust you'll figure it out."

"Sure thing Chief." Shawn started to get up.

"One more thing Mr. Spencer."

"Yeah Chief?"

"It's going to be a year in a couple of weeks isn't it."

Shawn nodded. 'Yeah, Sydney wants to go back for a few days."

"Are you going with her?"

Another sigh. "Yeah, we'll go for a week. If you lose your Head Detective…" Shawn had seen him checking flights.

"That would be like Christmas for him."

"Sydney's words exactly."

"It's hard to believe it hasn't even been a year…" Shawn followed Chief Vick's eyes out into the bullpen and saw the party simmering down, a few last dancers having a party.

"She's touched everyone here. More than you did…"

"More than I did when?" Shawn turned back to see her watching him.

"Do you realize our percentage of cases closed went up exponentially when you started working as a consultant? That the morale in this station, even though people didn't always want to admit it, went up?"

"I mean look at Lassie." Shawn nodded to where he sat with his feet propped on his desk, tie completely gone.

"Detective Lassiter would never have loosened up like that. You did most of the work."

"And Sydney did her share, they're pretty close."

"You know why right?"

Shawn had been wondering about it. "She latched onto him early on… almost like a… like a…"

"Like a what?"

"Like he was a security blanket."

"Maybe to her he was, he still kinda is." She leaned forward on her desk.

"Come again?"

She let out a little laugh. "In the space of three months, Sydney completely leaves the life she's known and comes into completely new territory."

"Yeah, but she chose to." Shawn didn't get where she was going with this.

"Yes but there's one bit of familiar. One thing Sydney is familiar with…" She started as Shawn heard the door to her office open and close.

"is police stations, and usually the head detective." Shawn turned to see Lassie coming to take a seat beside him. "I realized it after the whole Peters case. I was the bit of normal, I guess I still am, that she could turn to as she got used to all this."

"But she's adjusting."

"Especially after the Peter's case."

Shawn had to agree. "She's really opened up since then, I guess that was the last barrier. Now if only she'd stop being a smart mouth so often."

The room filled with laughter. "You're one to talk Spencer. If she's anything like you, she'll never grow out of it."

"True, I guess I'm getting a taste of my own medicine. What a year it's been. What are you doing in here anyways Lassie? You were all comfy on your desk two seconds ago."

"Sydney texted me, she wants to see us in Interrogation Room B." Lassie waved his phone. "She said to bring you too Chief."

"Well, I'm curious." Chief Vick got up and Shawn followed her example.

They left the office and headed down to the interrogation room and Shawn heard footsteps behind him. "What's going on?"

He turned to see Jules. "Sydney's got something."

"Good, cause I need to get out of here." Gus was right behind him.

Shawn followed Lassie as he waved them in. To his surprise, the rest of the group didn't follow and Shawn had to assume they went into the observation room.

Sydney was sitting in a chair, clicking a pen. "That you Pops?"

"Since when do you call me Pops?"

She shrugged. "I guess since now."

He went to take a seat beside her but she shook her head. "Nope, other side."

"Are you going to interrogate me?" Shawn felt his eyebrows rise in surprise and he circled the table and took a seat. Lassie uneasily took a seat beside Sydney. "Am I a suspect?"

"Not this time, sorry Lassie." Sydney's comment earned a brief smile from him.

"Then what is this about?" Shawn's response came at the same time as Lassie's.

He turned to face him. "Let's never do that again."

Lassie nodded. "Agreed."

"Dad, I need you to think back and tell me everything you know about Francesca Gomez."

* * *

1999- Washington DC

"We're going to stop for a lunch break here." Shawn held onto the bar as the driver of the tour bus brought the bus to a stop. "Welcome to the Old Post Office Pavilion. There's plenty of restaurants and shops inside and if you have enough time you can go up to the observation deck. Be back on the bus in an hour."

Shawn hung up the intercom and chatted with people as he exited the bus. Finally, the bus was empty and Shawn let out a sigh of relief.

"That bad Spencer?" Shawn turned to Barry, the driver.

"You know how it is Barry, living the dream." Shawn stepped out of the bus and closed his eyes for a second as he enjoyed the sunshine. "Cause it's everyone's dream to sound like a walking guidebook."

"Are we going to look at the pretty dresses Mommy?" Shawn turned to see a little girl barely missing running into him as she run into the arms of… no, it couldn't be

It couldn't be Becca, and if it was, when did she have a kid?

Shawn stumbled through the crowd, trying to catch her when he found himself laying flat on the ground.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Beside him lay a girl with the biggest brown eyes he'd ever seen. And to his surprise, the thoughts of Becca disappeared.

"I wasn't paying attention." Shawn stood up and held up his hand to help her up. "Shawn Spencer."

"Francesca Gomez." Shawn picked up a little bit of an accent. "I wasn't paying that much attention, I was looking for somewhere to eat."

"I was heading to get some lunch too, if you don't have any plans…" Shawn dusted himself off.

"I'd love to dine with you Mr. Spencer.

Shawn held back the shudder. "Mr. Spencer is my father, call me Shawn."

"Daddy problems Shawn?"

Shawn led her over to the door. "You could say that."

After they went through the metal detectors, Shawn led her down to the food court. They selected their choice of restaurant and sat down at a table.

"You're not from around here?" She commented.

"I could say the same for you."

"I'm from Chile, came up here for school." She took a sip of her drink and a strand of hair fell across her face.

"You're a long way from home." Shawn brushed it back behind her ear.

"Where's home for you?"

"Technically, California. But lately, I've been wandering around the country, doing a little bit of this and that."

"Finding where you belong?"

"Yeah." He noticed a tattoo on her arm that looked like a phoenix. "Fan of Journey?"

She looked down at her arm and her hand brushed across the tattoo. "Yeah, you could say that."

The next hour passed faster than Shawn thought possible and he happened to glance at his watch. "Oh, I hate to run but…"

"Back to the bus?"

"Yeah."

She wrote something on a napkin. "Call me when you get off."

* * *

"So what happened?" Lassie snapped him out of the memory.

"How many times?" Shawn turned to Sydney, not sure if that comment was directed at him or to herself.

"I'm starting to ask myself the same question." Shawn decided to answer it before turning back to Lassie. "I mean I called her that night and we met at a bar."

"Did you love her?" Shawn turned to the 2 way mirror when he heard Jules' voice.

Shawn let out a sigh. "At the time, I thought I might. But…"

"But what?" Jules' voice came over the speaker at the same time as Sydney in the room.

"Looking back over the years, over all the one night stands, over the few girls that actually got the title of my girlfriend, I…"

"You and Mom were too young." He looked over to see Sydney staring at the wall, away from everyone. "She said it several times, that if you guys had waited, maybe it would have turned into love. But both of you were so young, so…"

"far from the people we'd become." Shawn got up and knelt in front of Sydney. "And sure there were times where I wish that night would have never happened. But I learned that its times like those that make us who we are. Plus, you're one awesome kid, kid."

Shawn turned away from Sydney and circled the room. "I was in DC for another three months after that, summer ended and so did my job so I left. But we spent a lot of time together; she seemed to get me. You know what I mean?"

"Did you stay in contact with her?" Lassie asked as he sat back down.

"Please, this is Shawn we're talking about." Gus' voice came over the intercom.

"He's got a point. Long distance isn't really my thing." Shawn leaned back in his chair. "Hate to ruin this moment and everything, but seriously kid, how many weapons do you have on you right now?"

Sydney tried to look innocent. "What do you mean?"

"I've seen two guns and at least one knife."

"That's it, I've been cutting back."

Shawn exchanged a look with Lassie. "And I thought you were bad."

"So did I."

"You met up with her again though." Sydney eyed him.

"I was on my way back here, but I'd run out of cash in Chicago so I worked for a few months in a pizza kitchen…"

* * *

2005- Chicago Illinois

"Shawn, can you make a delivery before you take off?" Shawn looked up to see the owner, Noona at the counter.

"Sure thing." Shawn finished wiping down the table and headed to the counter.

She went into the kitchen and came out with a couple of boxes. "These need to be delivered to this address. She paid with a card over the phone." Noona handed him a sheet of paper.

"Ok." He picked up the boxes.

"And then you go out and have a little fun, you hear me? I don't want to see you back in here until your next shift."

"Yes Noona." Shawn rolled his eyes at the comment. He was working as much as possible, finally ready to go home.

Strapping the bag to the back of his Norton, Shawn headed for the Aon Center, luckily traffic wasn't that bad and it only took him about ten minutes.

He parked his bike and made his way inside and pass the front desk. Amazing what access you could get with pizza. Shawn double-checked the address and was thankful for the elevator when he saw he was going up to the 80th floor.

80 floors later, he made his way down the hall and found the office suite. Stepping inside, he heard raised voices.

"Well I'm sorry Agent, you don't have any evidence."

"Please, we both know it's a matter of time before we find some and I'll enjoy locking you away for a long, long time."

Shawn paused, uncertain of what he should do. He looked around and noticed a girl who couldn't be older than ten, sitting by the office door. She was looking through one of those I Spy books.

Behind the door, the voices continued to argue and Shawn sat the pizzas down on a table and knelt down in front of the girl. "You got lobby duty?"

The girl let out a sigh. "Yeah, nothing new."

"Shawn." He held out a hand.

"Sydney." She shook it.

"What are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for new stuff, the stuff they want you to find is too easy."

Shawn sat down beside her with a laugh. Taking a quick look at the picture, he turned to Sydney. "How many buttons?"

He watched her study the picture. "47."

"How many of those are red?"

"16"

Shawn studied her for a second; it wasn't often that he found someone with a knack for this like him. "Alright, close your eyes."

She looked at him for a second before doing so.

"What time does the clock say?"

"4:42 and 37 seconds."

The door opened and a blonde woman in a suit stormed out. "Sydney, we're going."

"Ok." Sydney shut her book and jumped up. "Thanks for doing that, it was fun."

"Sure thing kid." Shawn watched as they left the office.

"Who's out there?" A voice rang from the office. In the back of Shawn's mind he recognized it.

"Noona's Pizzeria. I have a delivery."

"Good, I'm starving." A woman came out of the office and Shawn stopped cold when he saw her.

"Francesca?"

It was her turn to stop cold, she turned to face him and Shawn saw surprise fill her face. "Shawn? Shawn Spencer?"

"How've you been?"

She came over and Shawn wrapped her in an embrace. "Been good? Did you find your groove?"

Shawn let out a sigh. "Not yet."

"What? Pizza delivery isn't your calling?"

"Nope and neither was rock climbing, ski instructing, or working in a South American vineyard."

"Sounds like you've been all over."

"Yeah." He picked up her pizzas. "Now I'm starting to think there's no place like home. Never thought I'd think that."

"How about we catch up?" She took the pizza. "I need someone to help me eat this. I have some wine in the fridge."

"Now how can I refuse that offer?" Shawn followed her into her office.

"I wasn't in Chicago for much longer, honestly ten years on the road had caught up with me. I figured I'd come back here, hang with Gus for a bit and then hit the road again." Shawn turned to Sydney. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"Apparently, Francesca still has feelings for you. She's the one holding us hostage in this station."

"What? No way, I mean sure she went from student to top of the Aon Tower in six years but that doesn't mean…"

"It can." He looked up to see Lassie staring off, slightly behind him for a second before looking between him and Sydney. "How many times did the two of you run into each other?"

"More than we thought." Shawn's response came at the same time as Sydney's.

* * *

Alex took the cup of coffee that was handed to him and sat down on the back bumper of a van. He'd finally gotten the file Sydney had asked for at least an hour ago and figured she had her reasons for asking him for it.

He felt the van dip slightly and looked up to see Sarah settling down beside him. "So what mess did she get herself into this time?"

"I wish I knew." Alex flipped through the file trying to find whatever it was that Sydney was hoping to find.

"What's the situation in there?" Sarah nodded to the station, only visible because of the spotlights pointing that way.

"According to Sydney, everyone is waiting this out. There's a couple officers with gunshot wounds from the initial confrontation but they are stable."

"Demands?"

"Not yet, our leading lady hasn't graced us with her presence yet."

"Do they have anyone in there?"

Alex shrugged. "Sydney thinks there's a mole."

"So she's playing snuff out the mole, her favorite."

"Right up there with let's get a cavity filled." Alex's comment caused both of them to laugh. "How've you been, Sarah?"

"Good, how's your little one?"

"Growing like a weed, she starts kindergarten in a couple weeks. How's Chuck?"

"Good, he's around here somewhere. They had to find a place to park the car." She nodded to the ever-growing crowd. "It's getting a little crazy."

"I'm hoping they'll start going home now that its getting dark."

"When do people ever do what we want them to do?"

"This is true." They were laughing again as Alex heard some arguing coming from three approaching figures.

"Guys, really?" Sarah got up and went over there. "I leave you alone for a few minutes…"

"Casey started it." Morgan pointed to Casey who quickly shot him a glare.

"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Alex got up from the van. "Nice to see you again Colonel."

"Likewise Temple, what do we have here?" Casey nodded to the police station.

Alex turned to Sarah and found that Chuck's arm had wasted no time finding its way around Sarah's waist. "Hopefully you guys can help me figure it out."

* * *

**That's it for now! Hope you guys enjoyed it. **

**see you next time... :) **


	8. Fear

**Sorry about the delay guys! Life is crazy and plus it took me forever to figure out where I wanted to go with this.**

**I'm interested in seeing where this is going, I feel like we may be getting ready to enter the beginning of the end but we'll see.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Santa Barbara California- 1995

"So that's it, you're going to leave just like that?" Gus leaned up against the wall of Shawn's room. Shawn was throwing stuff into a bag, and Gus could swear he still saw steam coming out of his ear.

"We both know its not just like that. It's been coming since March when he screwed things up with Becca and me."

Gus let out a sigh. "For the record, I told you not to take that dare."

"Why should I stay Gus?" Shawn shoved open a drawer and grabbed a bunch of shirts. "Your going to college in a few weeks. Shoot, your parents are going to love the fact that I'm skipping town. This way you'll focus on getting ready to go."

"What about us?"

"What about us?" He watched as Shawn grabbed a wad of cash out of the drawer beside his bed. Gus decided against asking where he got it.

"We were going to go to college together, be roommates, then someday get married and have houses that share a pool."

"The pool bit may still happen, and when it does I get the end with the diving board." Shawn flashed him a smirk.

"So what are you going to do?"

Shawn zipped the bag shut. "That's the beauty of it, I don't know. I know I'm going to see the country, go where I want, when I want."

"You know how crazy this sounds?"

Shawn picked up the bag and his bike helmet. "Crazy fun!"

Gus followed him as he went into the kitchen and loaded a lunch box with some food. "Promise me one thing."

"Anything."

Gus followed him as he went out side and began strapping everything to his bike. "Promise me we'll never lose touch."

* * *

Vienna Virginia- 1999

Becca took a sip of coffee and let out a sigh as she continued to type her essay. Every fiber of her being was crying out for sleep, but she needed to finish this essay.

And chasing around a three year old all day didn't leave a lot of time for that.

A storm raged outside and Becca hoped the power wouldn't go out, at least not for another 20 minutes. Who knew you could get a degree online? She wasn't going to complain, a few more classes and she could become a nurse.

Thunder crash outside as Becca took another sip before clicking the Internet browser and waiting for it to dial up. A few minutes later, the essay was submitted and she powered down the computer.

Best investment ever.

Turning the screen off, Becca headed into the kitchen for a pre-bed cup of tea.

"Mommy?"

Becca turned to see Sydney standing in the doorway, wrapped in her Disney Princess blanket. "Did the storm scare you sweetie?"

Her question received a nod from the wide-eyed toddler. "It's loud."

"It is. How about we have a cup of tea, and then go back to bed?"

She turned back to the stove when she heard a chair sliding out by the table. Pulling out a second mug, Becca waited for the water to boil, scooping out tea from the canister on the counter.

Sitting one cup in front of Sydney, she took a seat across the table and took a sip, losing herself in her own thoughts. When she looked back over to Sydney, she found her sound asleep half the cup left.

With a chuckle, she finished her cup before scooping Sydney into her arms. The storm was still going strong outside, but hopefully Sydney would sleep through the rest.

* * *

Miami Florida- 2004

Henry Spencer leaned against the barricade, watching the situation carefully. If only he'd seen something sooner, reacted sooner, he knew what to do…

But he hadn't, and a girl had been stuck in there for three days.

Sure it wasn't his fault, his head knew that. The heart wasn't listening and there lied the problem.

The problem was he could see her wide eyes staring at him, and if he didn't know any better he could have sworn he'd seen those eyes before.

Henry shook his head. Maybe he should try harder to stay in touch with Shawn, he was starting to see the kid everywhere.

That or he was losing it and he was pretty sure that wasn't it.

The sound of shouting dragged him out of his thoughts and he looked to the house where she was being held.

He let out a sigh of relief as he saw the girl being led out by a young, blonde officer. After leading her to an ambulance, she came over to him.

"Is she ok, Officer?"

The blonde nodded. "Yeah, we got to her in time. Here, come see for yourself. If it hadn't been for your tip, we might not have found her."

She slid the barricade and Henry slipped through. "Officer Juliet Ohara."

"Henry Spencer."

They made small talk during the short walk to the ambulance where the girl was being treated.

"Sydney, this is Mr. Spencer he was the one that gave us the tip that helped us find you."

Henry took a step up and looked into the ambulance. The paramedics were bandaging up some scrapes one her arms and she was sipping a Kool-Aid packet.

"Glad to see your okay, kid."

She turned to face him and Henry saw a lot go across her eyes before she finally smiled. "Thanks for calling in the tip."

"Wish I could have done more."

The paramedic finished and Sydney hopped down and came over and to Henry's surprise wrapped her arms around his waist. "It all worked out."

"That it did." Henry returned the hug; grateful she was ok.

Maybe when he got home, he'd send Shawn a postcard…

* * *

Santa Barbara California- 2005

Lassiter sat at a stool at Tom Blair's Pub, chugging down another shot of whisky. With a sigh, he waved for another and waited for the bartender to refill the glass.

He'd really blown it this time.

Nothing scared him, he took great pride in that.

And yet…

Victoria wanted to start a family, wanted kids. He did too but he was…

Not scared.

He didn't get scared…

But she didn't get it, didn't get that he wanted kids but he was scared.

There

He'd said it.

The bartender filled his glass and he tossed it down before grabbing his keys and heading for the nearby hotel.

He'd have to find an apartment soon.

* * *

Santa Barbara California- 2005

Christmas lights shone brightly as Shawn pulled into Santa Barbara. For the last 100 miles or so, he'd have I'll Be Home For Christmas stuck in his head.

But hey, it kinda fit.

Pulling off to the side of the road, he pulled out Gus' last postcard and rechecked the address. To his left, he saw the Pier Shopping Center.

Hmm, the shop of the corner was closing after Christmas. Wonder what would go in its place?

Putting the postcard back in his jacket pocket, Shawn pulled away from the curb and headed for Gus' apartment. If his estimate was right, and it usually was, he was about ten minutes away.

He drove past the street where he'd turn off to his childhood home, past the diner where he met his dad during his lunch break, past the police station, and finally turned down the street.

He hadn't told Gus he was coming back.

Part of it, he was afraid Gus had moved on. Sure they'd kept in touch, but it wasn't hard to write a postcard…

Pulling into the parking lot, Shawn took off his helmet and carried it in his hand as he climbed the stairs to the second floor apartment.

The door opened before he could knock and he stood face to face with the best friend he'd barely seen in ten years.

"Hey Gus."

He barely got it out before Gus wrapped him into a hug. "Dude, don't choke me."

Gus let him go. "How long are you back for this time?"

Shawn shrugged. "Don't know. I was thinking about sticking around for a little bit. Can I crash here for a few days until I find another place?"

Gus nodded and followed Shawn out to his bike as Shawn locked it up and grabbed his bag. Pulling a pineapple out of the lunch bag, Shawn turned to Gus.

"You want to pick the movie or should I?"

* * *

Shawn listened to the thunder rumble and the rain pound on the roof as he spread out blankets to make a makeshift bed on the floor of the Chief's office.

He heard a clicking noise and turned to see not Jules, but Sydney taking apart her gun and putting it back together, pausing to time it each time.

"You okay there, kid?" Shawn abandoned the blankets and came over and took a seat next to her.

"Thunder storms make her nervous." He looked up to see his Dad walking into the office.

"Really?"

Sydney finished another round before taking the cup of coffee. "I guess I forced myself to grow up early in so many other aspects that my subconscious kept that one irrational fear. Maybe by allowing myself to act my age a little, slowly I'll ease out of it like most people do."

Shawn thought about her statement for a minute. "So how is Grandma doing?"

Sydney looked sheepish like she'd been caught and then laughed. "Pretty good, she's hoping to come into town for my birthday."

Shawn leaned up against the desk and pulled her close. "You know, I used to be scared of them when I was little."

"Is this the part where I say but nothing scare you, you're my fearless Dad?"

Shawn laughed. "Please, plenty of things scare me."

"Like?" Jules joined them in the office and sat down on the other side of Shawn. She handed him a cup of coffee before taking a sip of her own.

"Losing you, losing Gus, Sydney, my Dad…" He looked up as another figure entered the office. "Even you Lassie."

"Wait, why are we getting mushy with out feelings."

"Distracting Sydney from the storm."

"You're scared of storms?"

Sydney let out a sigh and took a sip of coffee. "Yeah, guess everyone has something they're scared of."

"I think you inherited your fear kid." Shawn looked around Sydney to where his Dad took a sip of his own coffee. "You know, I'm scared of you getting hurt. It's why I took the consultant job in the first place."

"I know, Tony Cox told me."

It was quiet for a moment before Lassie spoke up. "I think we're all going to leave that along Spencer."

"Probably a wise move. Wouldn't make sense anyways." At least not to anyone but him, and maybe Gus.

"Alright, Dad and Gramps shared, I shared, y'alls turn."

Shawn heard Lassie get out a sigh. "I guess I have something I'm scared of."

"What's going on?" Everyone looked up as Gus wandered into the office. Shawn hadn't seen him for a bit. Probably had gone around the station seeing what food he could get his hands on.

"Campfire talk minus the campfire." Shawn turned back to Lassie. "Alright, you started, spill your guts."

"I'm scared of being a father. I'm scared I'll be like mine… I'm scared maybe someday I won't come home and…"

"And Marlowe's pregnant and it terrifies you.. But at the same time excites you" Sydney murmured.

"How did you know that?"

Shawn felt Sydney shift and bring her hand to her head. "She gives off the vibe. So do you."

"Yeah, I'm going to be a father…" There was a mix of fear and pride in his voice.

He felt Jules get up and rush over to hug him. "That's great Carlton."

"I guess Jules and I need to get on it, little Lassie needs a little Shawn to run around with."

"I would say I pity any kid that shares your DNA, but Sydney turned out okay."

He heard Sydney smirk as she settled back into the position she was in beside him.

"I faced my fear before, but wouldn't want to do it again." Gus' comment was barely heard.

"What's that buddy?"

"Sure I get skittish around a lot of things, but one thing that truly scares me is that you'll leave. Honestly, that was the worst day of my life. And for a bit, I was scared you'd do it again."

Shawn let out a sigh. "You know, I was terrified that you wouldn't want to see me when I got back."

"You kidding? From the point where you hinted that you were coming back, I kept a steady supply of pineapple around."

"You still do."

That caused everyone to laugh. Shawn turned to face Sydney and saw that she had fallen asleep. He tightened his grip around her and smiled.

"I'm scared of not making it in time. There was this one time when I was a rookie where a girl got taken hostage…"

"2004, Miami?" Shawn heard the shock in his Dad's voice.

"How did you… oh my gosh."

"How about you fill in the class?" Shawn glanced between the two of them.

"You Dad called in a tip. He'd been in a diner and saw a girl get taken. She was missing for three days."

"I could have sworn she had your eyes, kid."

Shawn looked down at the sleeping figure beside him. "Maybe she did."

"Why wouldn't it surprise me?" His dad let out a sigh.

* * *

A figure stood outside the Psych office as the rain poured down around her. Inside, she could see a group of agents setting up shop while they waited out the storm. She could see computers running data, files being flipped through, and oddly enough a movie playing on the big screen TV inside.

Why were they there! This was supposed to be her chance to get in there and dig up a little dirt on Shawn. Something to use when she confronted him.

"Ms. Gomez?"

She turned to see a figure approaching her. "What is it?"

"It's Jensen on the line."

She took the phone and got a status report from inside the station. Best idea she'd had in a while, putting a mole in there before locking it tighter than the Federal Mint.

"Someone look up a good hotel for me. Tomorrow, we're going to have some fun."

* * *

Chicago Illinois- 2005

Shawn packed up his bags one last time, anxious to hit the road. There really was no place like home, and something told him he needed to finally return.

"So you're really leaving?" Shawn turned to see Francesca pull up.

"I told you, I feel like I have to do this."

"But we could be happy, we could have anything we want." She came over and put her hand on his shoulder.

Shawn sighed as he finished securing his bag. He turned and pulled her close. "If we're meant to be, we'll meet again."

"Oh we'll meet again." She pulled away and Shawn noticed her eyes were full of anger. "I always get what I want."

Shawn hoped on his bike and started it up. "Not this time, I'm sorry Francesca."

With that he headed for the interstate.

* * *

**That's it for now!**

**Til next time...**


	9. Like a Sister

**Combo sick day/inspiration hit and you guys get this earlier than I thought you would! :)**

**There's one part here I hope you guys follow, if you don't let me know and I'll play with it. Before I let you get to the good stuff, I'm going to call this one now. We're getting ready to enter the end game. Luckily, I have an idea of what to do with the next one and I have to thank a reviewer for the idea. **

**Enough from me, get reading! **

* * *

1985- Santa Barbara

"Gus, I promise! It's really cool, you've got to see this!" Shawn charged off the bus in front of the police station.

"Last time you said that, you were banned from my house for a week." He heard Gus following behind him as he reached the front steps.

"Shawn! Where's the fire?" Shawn held in a groan as he spotted his Dad by the front door.

"No fire Dad just… uh… excited for another afternoon here at the station." Shawn put on what he hoped was his innocent smile.

It must have worked, either that or his Dad was playing along. "Glad to hear that, kid."

He led them in and got them settled in the conference room. Shawn groaned as his dad pulled his math book out of his backpack. "Alright, you two know the drill."

"Yes, Mr. Spencer." Gus got to work on his homework.

Shawn let out a sigh and faked like he was starting his. Satisfied, his Dad left and Shawn watched as he settled back down at his desk.

A few minutes later, Uncle Lou came over and said something that caused his Dad to get the look that he knew meant a call was coming in. Sure enough, his dad poked his head into the conference room a minute later. "We've got to take this, don't move."

"Not even to go to the bathroom?" Shawn looked up.

That earned him a sigh. "There, and then straight back."

With that he was gone and Shawn waited a few extra minutes before sitting down his pencil. "Alright, ready to see this?"

"We're not supposed to leave the conference room."

"Gus, don't be Shaggy in Scooby Doo right before the villain comes out. We'll be back way before Dad."

With a sigh, Gus sat down his pencil. "You're not dropping this until I come are you?"

"Nope, come on then." Shawn took off out of the conference room and headed for the lower level.

* * *

Lassiter groaned as he sat up from where he'd fallen asleep on his desk. What time had he finally allowed himself to go to sleep?

Whatever time it was, it hadn't been early enough.

Looking around, he saw that he was the only one up in the bullpen. With a sigh, he got up and headed for the coffee pot and discovered he had to brew a new pot.

While he was waiting, he peeked into the chief's office and found her asleep at her desk. Spencer, Ohara, and Sydney were leaning against the front. Spencer's arm was still around Sydney and Ohara was leaning up against the other side.

He might have to set up a camera to see how Spencer managed to get out of that position if he woke up first.

Fresh cup in hand, he headed back to his desk and opened his email. There was the collection of the traditional junk mail, memos about cases, requests to appear in court, yada yada.

Just as he was about to close it he heard a ping and saw an email from Atemple and the subject line was Sydney. Interested grabbed, he opened the email.

_Detective Lassiter,_

_ My name is Alex Temple and I used to work with Sydney. We may have a situation out here._

_ A_

Lassiter couldn't hit the reply button fast enough. Sydney had someone on the outside? Why didn't that surprise him?

_A, _

_ What kind of lead? And can you support your claim that you worked with Sydney? Can't be too careful right now._

_ Carlton Lassiter_

He had to admit the initial thing was cool. Apparently, this Alex character was online because within minutes he had a reply. There was a picture attached and when he opened it he saw it was a split image. First off was a CIA badge and then there was a picture of the man on the badge with Sydney.

_ CL,_

_ Francesca Gomez was spotted in town late last night. Is this enough proof?_

_A_

What did Spencer's past lover have to do with anything? Of course this would have his name all over it…

_A,_

_ What does she have to do with anything? I know she had a fling with Sydney's father, but she wouldn't have done all this for that, would she?_

_ CL_

Lassiter downed his coffee and went back for a second cup. Around him, the bullpen was starting to stir as the smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the room. Back at his computer, he saw he had an email.

_CL,_

_ Hmm, didn't know about the fling with her father thank for the intel. Francesca has been suspected in running the Matka since 2004. Her late husband died from mysterious circumstances but we could never pin anything down on her. Did Sydney get anything out of your perp?_

_ A_

Sounded like Sydney was keeping in contact with him. Guess he'd found her mystery caller from yesterday.

_A,_

_ Well I learned to never get on her bad side; kid knows what she's doing in an interrogation. Turns out, the big dogs were coming to town in a few days to oversee a massive shipment coming in from overseas. The thing is, our perp seems to think that there was something more than drugs coming. Why else would the big dogs, possibly Gomez herself, be coming?_

_ CL_

"Is that fresh?"

Lassiter looked up to see Sydney eyeing his cup of coffee. He smiled and nodded to the pot. "Made it about ten minutes ago."

"Whatcha doing?"

"Emailing with a friend of yours."

She had started for the coffee pot but stopped cold at that. "Who?"

"Alex Temple?"

She relaxed at that and headed for the coffee pot, returning a minute later holding it like it was manna from Heaven. "What's Alex got to say?"

"Francesca's been spotted in town." Lassiter's computer binged.

_CL,_

_ I guess the next step is to figure out what else was coming in that delivery. Do you guys have anything in there that might help?_

_ A_

"Tell him I say hi." Sydney pulled up a chair and let out a yawn. "Oh, I've gotten spoiled to sleeping in a bed every night."

"You know kid, you are one never ending bundle of mysteries." Lassiter hit the reply button.

"Get used to it."

_A, _

_ First off, Sydney says hi. Secondly, we'll take a look and see if we found anything in the search. We were about to start going through it when we were put on lockdown. _

_ CL_

Lassiter took out his keys and tossed them to Sydney. "Hey, wanna go raid the evidence room? Tell Jensen to give you the stuff from yesterday's bust."

"Sure thing Uncle Lassie." Sydney took the keys and disappeared downstairs as Lassiter's computer pinged again.

_CL, _

_ Let me know what turns up. Tell her I say hi back. Is everyone ok in there?"_

_ A_

_ A,_

_ We had a couple officers shot when we were initially locked down. Sydney patched them up but I'd prefer they get some real medical attention sooner rather than later._

_ CL_

_ CL,_

_ If I'm honest with you, they might get better care from Syd. That kid can stitch up a wound._

_ A_

_ A,_

_ Learn something knew about her every day. _

_ CL_

They continued to send emails back and forth and Lassiter noticed that Sydney had been gone for a little while. All of a sudden, he heard a crash coming from downstairs.

"Where's Sydney?" He turned to see Spencer standing in the doorway of the Chief's office.

"She was going to grab something from the evidence room." Lassiter turned to head that way when he saw Sydney running up the stairs file in hand.

"This is what happens when I try to be normal!"

Jensen came charging up the stairs gun in hand.

"Jensen, what do you think you're doing?" Lassiter watched as Sydney took a defensive pose.

"Stopping a meddling brat. I'll deal with the rest of you in a minute." He put the gun down. "Too bad I can't shoot her."

"And why not?" Sydney's tone had gone ice cold.

"Boss' orders." Jensen shrugged. "That doesn't mean I can teach you a lesson the old fashion way.

He charged for Sydney and before Lassiter could react, Jensen was flying across the room.

"You want a fight? I've been itching for one." Sydney charged him and dodged a punch that Jensen threw as he was getting up.

"You're so out of your league, Princess." He charged her and for a few minutes, they were locked in hand-to-hand combat. Sydney landed some, Jensen landed some, but neither showed signs of stopping.

"Apparently, he's never seen her fight." Lassiter turned to Spencer.

"So we're going to let her deal with this?" He looked at the fight in shock, but Lassiter couldn't help but notice a little bit of pride there.

"We'd just get in the way." If Lassiter was honest, he'd been hoping to see Sydney in action like this ever since he'd caught her downstairs during the Peter's case. "Think she'd teach my kid?"

"I'm sure she would."

Sydney brushed by them and Lassiter heard his cuffs jingle and then noticed they were gone. "Spencer, you've got a pick pocket for a kid."

He smirked at that.

Turning back to Sydney, he noticed that they were separated by an empty desk. Both were panting and Lassiter was deciding who was worse for wear. Sydney looked like she had the beginning of a black eye but Jensen's nose was bleeding.

"What is going on in here?" Lassiter turned to see Chief Vick, Ohara, Guster, and Henry standing in the doorway. With the exception of the first, the others seemed to still be waking up good.

"It's like wrestle mania here." Spencer nodded to where the stare down continued by the desk.

Finally, Jensen charged Sydney and she hopped up on the desk and did a move straight out of an Olympic gymnastic final. She swung her legs around, catching Jensen by surprise and sent him to the ground.

She jumped down, landing right on top of him as she grabbed his hands and brought them behind his back and cuffed him. "Officer Timothy Jensen, you are under arrest for aiding and abetting a drug lord, compromising evidence, assisting in takeover of a police station, attempted murder of two police officers, and assaulting a federal agent."

Sydney pulled him up and handed him to Buzz. "Read him his rights and take him down to a holding cell."

"Did you just refer to yourself as a federal agent?" Lassiter saw Spencer's eyebrow go up.

"I'm still a consultant for the CIA, so I kinda am."

"Since when?" Apparently this was a much news to Spencer as it was for him.

"Since we wrapped the LWK case. Long story." She shrugged and pulled out her phone and dialed a number. "Found our mole" … "Still would rather get a cavity filled." … "Nothing I couldn't handle." … "Please, let's remember who taught you that trick." … "Alight, I'll let you know what we dig up."

She hung up and turned to Lassiter. "Are you going to stand there gaping, or are we going to find out what's coming in that shipment?"

Lassiter couldn't argue with that and headed back to his desk. Well after he grabbed another cup of coffee…

* * *

After finding an ice pack for Sydney's eye, Shawn made his way downstairs to where Buzz was booking Officer Jensen.

"So why do it?" Shawn leaned up against the counter.

"Do what?" Jensen all but spat at him.

"This, come on man, you've worked here for years."

"I've worked for her longer, you didn't think you could escape now could you? She's had her eyes on you since you left her."

"Who?"

"Who do you think?"

Buzz lined him up for a mug shot and Shawn could tell he didn't like doing this.

"It doesn't matter who, why would you do this? How did you do this?"

"Please, we were just waiting for the right time. Jameson proved to be a wonderful distraction."

"She was bait?"

"Not at first, just worked out that way." Jensen made a face at the camera as the shot was taken.

"So what does Francesca want with me?" Shawn knew the answer.

"She told you, she always gets what she wants." Jensen sneered at him one last time before being led into the holding cell.

* * *

Lassiter continued flipping through the files, even after Sydney took off for the lower level again. Spencer had settled down beside him and Lassiter was trying to think of a time he'd seen him sit that still for that long.

"You know it could be anything." Lassiter looked up to see Spencer throwing down the file with a sigh. "It's not just drugs here. Sure there's a large amount but there's files coming, tapes, books, I'm sensing some of these are dummy items in case something like this happened."

"So what, throw away what they don't need?"

"Ebay man. Some lower level grunt is going to get a nice pay day." Spencer got a confused look on his face as he stared at something behind Lassiter.

Lassiter turned and saw Sydney coming up the stairs, talking excitedly to a man in a suit. "I think that's our mystery help."

"Oh, she's so my kid." Spencer didn't hold in a chuckle.

"Alex, this is my Dad and the head psychic for the SBPD, Shawn Spencer." She nodded to Lassiter as Agent Temple shook Spencer's hand. "And this is Head Detective Carlton Lassiter, but I like to call him Uncle Lassie."

Lassiter held in a groan as he shook Agent Temple's hand. "What did I say about that Sydney?"

"I don't believe I know what you're talking about." She threw on an innocent look. "And this is Agent Alex Temple. Six years ago he was a sorry excuse for a rookie, but I whipped him into shape and he's one of the best agents the CIA has."

"Sorry excuse for a rookie huh? I heard differently." Agent Temple shook Lassiter's hand.

"Nice to finally meet you Agent, thanks for the heads up this morning."

"Call me Alex, and just doing my job."

"Telling by the grin on your face, I assume you had something to do with getting him in here." Lassiter turned to Sydney. "How did you manage that?"

Sydney shrugged. "You don't earn a badge for nothing, Lassifrass."

"Sydney thought it would be a good idea to catch each other up in person and then sneak me back out." Alex's started as his phone began to ring. When he pulled it out, he smiled and handed it to Sydney. "You might want to answer that."

When she looked at the phone, her face lit up. She walked a couple steps away. "Jin Wan's Chinese Palace, will that be dine in or carry out?"

Lassiter watched as Alex held in a snort before turning to Spencer. "That would be your daughter."

All he got was a shrug and a smirk so he turned back to Alex. "Not sure what to ask you about first, the case or Sydney."

"Let's focus on the case for now. Rumor has it her grandpa makes a great steak. Let's get you guys out of here so I can test the rumor for myself."

"Playing Mythbusters now are we?"

"Someone has to do it."

"How have you heard about my steaks?" Lassiter turned to see Henry walk up.

"From Sydney, you must be Mr. Spencer."

"Call me, Henry. So you're the infamous Alex."

"Guilty as charged."

"I thought we were focusing." Lassiter brought the conversation back around.

"Fine then, what can you tell us about Francesca?" Spencer sat on top of Lassiter's desk.

"I was going to ask you the same thing."

"And who's your friend, Detective?" Chief Vick came out of her office, eyebrow raised.

"You must be Chief Vick, I've heard nothing but good things." Alex held out his hand. "I'm Agent Alex Temple, I used to work with Sydney."

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you get in here? Last I checked they had this place surrounded."

"I have my ways." Sydney walked back over. "Kelsey, I've got to go talk to your Daddy now." … "Ok." … "Next time I visit, I promise." … "Miss you too." … "Bye Kels."

"What did she get you to promise?" Alex took the phone she handed to him.

"Now that would ruin the surprise, I'm hurt you would ask. How about we take this into the conference room." Sydney turned to Spencer. "Where's Gus?"

"Probably raiding some department's snacks." Spencer pulled out his phone and sent a text. "He'll be here in a second."

"Ohara, conference room!" Lassiter turned to where his partner was settling down at her desk. With a sigh, she got up and headed in there, Lassiter close behind.

* * *

Shawn stepped out of the conference room for a second to gather his thoughts as his Dad asked yet another question. He headed downstairs, knowing there was a spot where he could do just that.

Right now, they had two trails. But they had to click somewhere and take them to the end of this right?

Opening the door, he slipped inside and breathed a sigh of relief that it was empty. He locked the door behind him before uncapping the marker and facing the white board that filled the wall in front of him.

A equals B

B equals C

Francesca's in town days before a large shipment of drugs and who knows what else arrives.

The station gets locked down with him inside.

Are they connected?

Is Francesca really running the Matka?

Was Jameson the fall guy, well girl?

Was she still holding a grudge? That was like 9 years ago. Who held grudges for that long? And why? It's not like they were exclusive…

With a sigh, Shawn sat down the marker and played with the ring on his finger. He looked down at it and smiled hardly believing he had finally done it.

Finally married Juliet Ohara.

Three weeks ago…

And as soon as they got back this whole mess started…

Coincidence?

A knock on the door broke Shawn out of his thoughts. He eyed the covered board nervously. "What's up?"

"It's Alex, can I have a sec?"

Shawn unlocked the door and Alex slipped in before he locked it. He watched as Alex took a look at the board. "She really is your kid."

"I've heard that a few times. You know, you're the first person I've met that knew her before Santa Barbara."

"It's nice to finally meet her new family." Alex took a chair from the table in the corner and turned it to face Shawn before sitting in it backwards.

"It's nice to meet her old one." Shawn leaned up against the wall.

"You know, I did a background check on you before Sydney left. Over the last few years she became more than a mentor. She was like the little sister I never had."

"I googled her when she first got here. She really covered her tracks."

"She did, honestly it helped her get through the week of the funeral."

"What creating a life she never actually lived?"

"We all have a list, stuff we tell people on the outside. My wife knows what I do, but my little girl doesn't. She thinks I travel around helping set up new restaurants."

"So the whole graduated with honors, prom, normal life thing?"

"She graduated high school when she was 12, so I'd say it was with honors. Ummm, we went undercover once and she did go to a prom, and in between missions she had a normal enough life, at least for her."

"How come we've never seen you before? If you two were so close and all?" That had been bugging Shawn since Alex had walked in with Sydney.

"She asked me not to come. The first few months, I reminded her of her old life, and she left it to escape. She wanted a fresh start so for the first four months we didn't speak a lot. A phone call here and there, a letter in the mail, she sent presents at Christmas, that was it."

Alex shifted positions. "She came back for the first time in February, needed to sell the house, this and that, and when she came back, she seemed happy."

Shawn sighed. "You know, if you'd told me a year ago that I had a kid, she'd be coming into my life, I'd be proposing to the girl I'd loved for eight years, then marrying her, I would have laughed."

"Crazy year, huh?"

"You could say that." Shawn uncapped the marker. "I'm missing something."

He heard Alex get up and come stand beside him. "May I?"

Shawn turned to see him holding out his hand. Shawn handed him the marker. "Knock yourself out."

Alex approached a part of the board and added some things, drew lines to connect others, and paused when he saw the manifests for the drug shipment. "Did you do this from memory?"

"Yeah."

Alex let out a chuckle as he continued adding notes to a few places. "You know, we both knew right away how you did it."

"Did what?"

"Sydney showed me the binder her mom made, and knowing her like I did, it wasn't hard to put together how you've managed to pull this off for so many years."

"When I first started, I didn't plan on it lasting this long." Shawn stood back and watched what Alex was doing. "Hey Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"For watching my kids back all those years." Shawn caught the marker Alex tossed him. "You know, most people don't get this much serious Shawn when I don't know them."

"I was wondering. Sydney's got way too much snark not to come by it honestly."

"My kid? Snarky?" Shawn couldn't help but laugh.

"Just a little." Alex turned back to the board. "So what does this tell us?"

"It tells us that you should let me in? Or is this a Dad slash little/big brother pow wow?" Shawn turned when he heard Sydney's voice at the door.

"You think if we ignore her, she'll go away?" Alex didn't keep his voice down.

"Very funny."

Shawn let her in and she looked between the board and the two of them. "They're looking for you guys upstairs."

She took the marker. "Which means, we've got a few minutes to figure this out."

Shawn heard Alex's phone take a few pictures of the board. "You two are the psychics."

"That's Alex for, I don't have a clue, figure it out Sydney."

"It's not." Shawn laughed at the glare Alex sent Sydney's way.

"Sure it's not." Sydney let out a sigh and looked between the two of them. "This is weird."

"What's weird?" Shawn asked.

"The two of you together, me, us solving a case together. It's a good weird, but weird."

"How's it weird?" Shawn turned to face his daughter who was studying the board.

"I never thought my two lives could mesh. Why do you think I kept it a secret for so long?" She didn't even look away from the board as she answered and Shawn looked over her head at Alex.

Something told him, this was something to bring up at a later date…

"Alright, let's figure this out." Shawn took the marker back from Sydney and received a look.

* * *

**And a nice long one too! Crazy right!**

**Til next time... :) **


	10. Legend

**So do I start the groveling now or later? I'm really sorry about taking so long to update. Finals, life, writer's block, work... I've got excuses but still I feel bad.**

**Hope you guys enjoy this. And I might have to recall my calling it call. **

* * *

Last March- Sydney Australia

Shawn walked hand in hand with Jules down the dock to the waiting yacht. Even though he'd been carrying it in his pocket the whole trip, tonight the ring box in his pocket felt heavier.

"Shawn, where are we going?"

He kept walking not keeping the grin off of his face. "I am a man of mysteries. Lucky for you, this one is about to be solved."

"I thought this was a work free trip."

"First off, you know I can't turn it off like that. Second, who said anything about work."

"First off, there isn't anything to turn off." She playfully pushed him. "Secondly, aren't mysteries kinda your thing?"

First off, there's this." He brought his finger to his head. "Secondly, this isn't a nasty crime mystery."

"Are we going to do this the whole night or is this just the opening act?"

He turned to her and put on his innocent face. "Do what?"

Shawn couldn't keep the smile off his face as she rolled her eyes. "You know exactly what I mean."

"Oh get a room!" Shawn looked up and saw Sydney on deck.

"Sydney, what are you doing up there?" Jules turned to Shawn. "Are we?"

"Just a little night out at sea." Shawn led her onto the gangplank and onto the yacht. He let go of Jules for a second and walked over to Sydney. "Everything in place?"

"Just like we planned." She took the ring box he slid her. "Sunset is in an hour and a half."

"Copy that." Shawn circled around Jules and took her hand again. "Let's get this party started."

He led her to the front of the boat where Lassie, Marlowe, Gus, and his Dad were already sipping on drinks and Shawn saw Sydney taking a drink from the bartender.

Shawn felt his eyebrow rise and saw Lassie had a similar look. She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm legal here and plan on enjoying that before we go back stateside."

She walked past him and took a seat on one the benches that ran along the sides of the boat. As she passed him, Shawn could have sworn he heard her murmur something about this not being her first drink.

He'd investigate that another day.

The next hour passed quickly as they left the port and headed out to sea. Dinner was served and the mood was light as they all enjoyed this much-needed vacation.

"Where's Sydney?" Shawn turned to see Jules looking around.

"Oh, she'll turn up eventually, not like she could have gotten far." Shawn kept the knowing grin off of his face.

The sun was starting to set and the twinkling lights around the boat added to the atmosphere. Music played and Shawn just barely heard the splash coming from the other side of the yacht.

Hopefully Jules didn't.

It seemed like luck was with him because it didn't faze her from where she'd moved to stand by Lassie and Marlowe. Shawn moved over to where Gus and his dad were sipping on drink. "Almost time."

"You know kid, I never thought I'd see the day." His dad didn't bother to hide his smile.

"Did you have to do it on a boat though?" Even with the seasickness patch, Gus was looking a little green.

"This is the mother of romantic scenarios!" Shawn nodded to the setting sun. "Showtime."

He went over and took Jules by the hand and led her away from the group. "Having fun?"

"This is amazing, Shawn." She was glowing and Shawn couldn't keep the smile off of his face.

"It is." Shawn took a deep breath. "You know, I once had some tell me something."

"What's that?"

"They said maybe the best things, the richest things aren't supposed to come easily, and that sometimes the moments that make the most sense happen when everything else doesn't."

"Nine years ago, I wandered back to Santa Barbara not sure what to do. To say life didn't make sense, well that's an understatement. Even after we started Psych, I figured I'd stick around for a bit and then move on. But something stopped me."

"And what was that?"

"This beautiful blonde detective who came in and managed to work with one of the most irritable people I've ever met."

"Hey!"

Shawn shrugged, not taking his eyes off of Juliet. "Lassie, it took you like six years to get the stick out of your butt."

He took Jules hands into his and led her to the railing to watch the sunset. "And as time passed, I realized something about that blonde detective."

"What did you realize?"

"That maybe I could fall in love. Maybe I could find a girl who would make me want to settle down, get a real car, consider having my 2.5 kids which I've never understood that by the way."

"It's the average." Gus took a swig of his drink.

"What he said."

A splash sounded from right below them and Shawn turned to see a plastic clamshell floating by the yacht. He grabbed the nearby pole and fished it out dropping to one knee when he had it in his hand.

"So nine years passed, and I was thinking, maybe it's time I marry that blonde detective. So, Juliet Ohara, will you marry me?"

Jules nodded through the tears and Shawn opened the clamshell revealing the ring. Taking the ring out, he placed it on Jules' finger. "Better than a pearl huh?"

"Much better. You love your theatrics don't you."

"Do you expect any less?"

"From you? Never." She barely got that out before Shawn pulled her in for a kiss.

"Get a room!" Shawn broke away and saw Sydney treading water by the yacht in full SCUBA gear.

"You going to come up here and rejoin the party?"

"You guys should come out here. The view underwater is amazing!

"Yeah, but."

"Chill Dad, I'm coming, ladder's on the other side though." She put her mouthpiece back in and disappeared under the yacht.

"When did she learn to SCUBA dive?"

"Over the summer apparently. One of her friends talked her into it and she loved it." Shawn led Jules back to the group, even though the group had migrated to them.

The next few minutes passed quickly as Marlowe gushed over the ring and Lassiter reminded him not to hurt Jules. Sydney even rejoined the group, her wet hair in a braid.

Shawn turned to head to the bar to grab another drink when he noticed the boat from earlier, the figure still facing their direction.

* * *

If the case with Nadia wasn't enough to make him feel like a spy, the stunt Shawn had just pulled sure did. He'd managed to sneak out, the same way Alex just snuck in, of the station, past both parties outside, and was making his way to the Psych office.

After a stop at a Jamba Juice for a much needed, well Jamba Juice, he headed to the office and slipped inside hoping his hunch was right. And he hoped Gus hadn't eaten the last of the Red Vines before they'd headed to the station.

"It was you wasn't it? That night in March." Shawn kept his back to the door of the office as he heard someone enter. Once again, he hoped his hunch was right.

"You didn't think I wouldn't keep an eye on you? I'm hurt." Just as Shawn suspected, Francesca's voice was the one the came from the figure behind him. "No need to act like that, it's just you and me like old times."

"Why don't I believe you?" Shawn turned to face her and found that maybe what he'd been hearing was true. She looked like the Francesca he'd known but at the same time she didn't.

"I'd say it has something to do with your trust issues." She sat down on the couch and Shawn was reminded of how she always seemed so elegant.

"You know I'm taken right?" Shawn waved his left hand.

"Do you really not know what this is about? Or is your supposed third eye blocking you."

"Don't judge my gift." Shawn brought his finger to his head.

"Speaking of your gift how did you manage to escape lockdown."

"That's for me to know, and you never to find out."

And then there was getting back into the station before Sydney realized it. One thing he'd learned…

Don't piss Sydney off.

"Cut the crap, Shawn. Where is it?" Shawn watched as the coy look on her face iced over to something almost sinister.

"Where's what?" For once, Shawn honestly didn't have a clue.

"The legend."

"The legend of what?" Seriously, what was she talking about?

Before he could think about it much more, he felt something connect to the back of his head and he fell to the floor. The last thing he heard before everything went black was, "Toss the place, and his place, and wherever you have to until you find it."

* * *

"I'm going to kill him." Lassiter watched Sydney walk the length of the bullpen for the fourth time in the last few minutes. "I'm going to find him, tell him I'm glad he's okay, and then I'm going to kill him."

"Do you want help with that?" Honestly? Lassiter was annoyed that Spencer had once again pulled a stunt like that.

"Lassiter! You're not helping." He shrugged at his partner.

Sydney was yelling into her phone in French and Lassiter didn't need three guesses as to who was on the other end. One thing was for sure, he was glad it wasn't him.

One thing he knew for sure, never piss Sydney off.

Sydney hung up the phone and did another lap. "I'm going to kill him."

"You know, as much as I'd love to see that, I really don't feel like doing the paperwork your booking would require." Lassiter took a seat at his desk and put in Spencer info into the GPS tracker.

"Like you'd catch me afterwards." Sydney let out a scoff nad settled down in a chair next to his desk.

"I don't even want to hear you elaborate on that." Gus shifted uneasily from where he sat next to Ohara's desk.

"I wasn't planning on it." Sydney smirked.

They sat around for a few minutes, waiting on the results, listening to the sound of the COPS marathon going on in the conference room. COPS there, Alias continued upstairs, and rumor had it Scooby Doo was somewhere in the precinct.

Guess Spencer wasn't the only one that hadn't grown up. But hey it kept people from complaining about being trapped for over 24 hours.

As long as they got some work done…

"What's the latest on finding Spencer?" Chief Vick came out of her office, looking exhausted and frazzled.

"Well, we're working on keeping Sydney from shooting him once we do." Lassiter nodded in Sydney's direction.

"Who said anything about shooting? I can be way more creative that that."

"I'm going to pretend, for the sake of the paperwork involved, that I didn't hear that." Chief Vick turned to head down the hall. "I'm going to check on everyone. Have something for me when I get back."

"Sure thing Chief." Ohara chimed in from her desk where she was looking in traffic cams to see if they could pick up Spencer along the way. What were the chances of a car running a light when he was in range?

"Hey Jules, I've been meaning to ask you but where did you get the necklace?" Lassiter looking up and noticed the necklace in question.

"It was a wedding present from your Dad. He said he found the charm when he was moving into our house. It screamed me so he got it set into the necklace.

Sydney went over and Jules took off the necklace and held it up so Sydney could see. To everyone's surprise, the light from the window went through it and cast something on the walls of the chief's office.

"What is that?" Lassiter got out of his chair and went over to examine the pattern.

"I've seen this before." Sydney joined him.

"What is it?" He repeated his question.

"It's a legend."

"Like to a map?" Ohara suggested being careful not to move.

"Exactly."

"So if there's a legend there's a map which means…" Lassiter started.

"It means there's something to find and I'll bet Gomez wants it."

Lassiter's computer pinged as Sydney's phone rang. He headed over and looked at the data on the screen. "Spencer's at the Psych office."

"I doubt he's still there." Sydney hung up her phone. "Alex just got there and the place has been trashed."

* * *

**Hope that was worth the wait. **

**Til next time... :) **


	11. Talking Circles

**Back again! And I only made you guys wait a week! **

* * *

Washington DC- 1999

Shawn sat across from Francesca at the Old Post Office Pavilion. It almost seemed poetic that the location of their first date would be the location of their last.

Summer was over, and Shawn was more than ready to move on. He was thinking about heading south for the winter. Birds had it right, the cold sucked.

Maybe he could work at Disney for the winter, well as long as he didn't have to dress up in one of the costumes. That would be murderous for his hair.

"Are you sure you have to leave?" Shawn looked up to see that Francesca had been watching him finish his food.

"It's time for me to move on." He sighed, knowing how broken up about this she had been. Even though he'd been clear from the beginning that he was leaving.

She dug in her bag and held out something wrapped. "I got you a goodbye present."

Shawn slid the box on the table beside him over. "Same here."

He unwrapped his present and found a key chain that said Washington DC. Attached to the ring was a jewel. "To remember you by?"

"That jewel is from Chile." She unwrapped hers to find the book she'd been eyeing all summer. "And I'll remember you when I read this."

Shawn pulled his keys out of his pocket and attached the new key chain. "How about we take a walk along the mall?"

"I'd like that." She got up carrying her book while Shawn carried their tray. A few minutes later, they were walking the few blocks down to the mall.

* * *

Lassiter pulled up to the front of the Psych office and ignored the gasps that came from Sydney and Ohara.

"Dang, Gomez meant business." Sydney let out a whistle as she got out of the Fusion and ran over to where Agent Temple was eyeing them.

"Should I ask how you managed to sneak everyone out?" Temple's eyebrow was raised.

"They cleared out. Gomez wanted Dad and was waiting for him to give himself up. Knowing Dad would cave eventually, she set that trap. Dad fell into it when he thought he was setting one for her. Sadly, I think we know who won that one. With Dad in her custody, she ordered her goons to clear out and let us out." Sydney nodded to the empty window frame that had housed the name of Spencer's agency.

That being said, Sydney made her way into the office and he heard her giving orders in a way that envied the way he barked orders. Judging by how the officers seemed to pick up the pace, Lassiter figured he'd finally met someone that gave him a run for his money.

"And here I thought all this California laid backness would mellow her out." Lassiter turned to see Temple heading into the office.

He had to chuckle at that as he followed him into the trashed office. Once again, admitting that Spencer and Guster managed alright if they had an office in such a great location.

"Guster, look around and see if there's anything stolen. After that, get me a list of the things destroyed." He turned to see Guster over unlocking a drawer of his desk

"The rest of you, I want the scene processed in an hour. And any screw ups will be dealt with by Sydney. I'm sure you all don't want that." Lassiter watched a look cross several people's eyes.

He rolled his shoulders and held back the smile at the idea of getting a shoulder rub from Marlowe when he finally made it home. She gave really good shoulder rubs…

Sydney made a grunt from over at Spencer's overturned desk. Ohara was in the reception area making notes. Looking around, he saw the Psych phone cover sticking out from under a bowl on the counter. "Found the phone."

"So that's what you found, Dad." Sydney shuffled through some papers and tucked them back into a folder. "Gus, didn't Dad say my filing system was ridiculous and unnecessary?"

"Something like that."

She held up another file. "Well he seems to use it just fine."

"You're not going to let that go are you?"

"Do you know how many files he's made me grab for him the last few months cause he won't use my system?" Sydney gathered the files together. "Of course not."

Lassiter shook his head and continued to oversee the scene. Sydney took the files outside and he saw her flipping though the on the bench.

Time passed and if it weren't the Psych office, Lassiter would think this was any other scene. But the way Guster was making lists and Ohara was trying to hide his worry.

He was surprised that Henry hadn't followed them here. Come to think of it, where was Henry. Lassiter grabbed his phone and dialed the familiar number.

"Lassiter, my house is trashed." Not even a hello.

"What?"

"I came by the house, something told me to, and I found it trashed."

"And you're just now waiting to tell me?"

"You're the one that just now thought that something might be up." Henry had a edge to his tone that Lassiter hadn't heard in a while. Then again, Lassiter did too.

Lassiter had to admit he had a point. "Alright, I'll send a team over."

Hanging up, he dialed another familiar number. "McNabb, I need you to take care of an important scene. Head over to Henry Spencer's place and take some forensics with you."

Hanging that call up, he tunred back. "Gomez's been busy. Henry's house is trashed too."

Ohara's eyes went wide. "The house."

"Dobson, finish processing this scene." Lassiter took off out of the office. "Sydney!"

"What's up Lassie?" She looked up from the files.

"They didn't just trash the Psych office. Henry's place is trashed and we have reason to believe that your dad's is as well."

"Gramps' is trashed? Is Chipper okay?"

Lassiter had forgotten about her rabbit and let out a sigh. Leave it to Sydney to be acting like an agent one second and a teenager the next. "Not sure, do you want to stay here or call on the way?"

"I'm going to stay here. I'm trying to figure out what Dad found right before he got company." She held up the files.

"Let's go Ohara." Lassiter grabbed the keys out of his pocket and headed for the car. Suddenly it seemed like the shoulder rub was a lot further away.

* * *

Chicago- 2005

Sydney crawled though the air ducts of Gomez's office. Sarah's interrogation hadn't revealed much so it was her turn.

"How's it going?" Sarah's voice came through her headset.

"In the ducts I think I'm near Gomez's office." Giggling came up through the air vents and Sydney peaked in what turned out the be Gomez's office. "She's going someone with her."

"Who?"

Sydney adjusted her position until she could get a better view. "The guy from earlier, you know the one from the lobby."

"The one who was looking at your book with you?"

"Yeah, him." Sydney smiled at the memory. Not many people could make her feel like being a kid. Something about him though…

"Did he give you a name?"

"Shawn, didn't give me a last name. I don't think he's connected though." Sydney paused going over the memory. "He didn't give off that vibe and you know how I am at reading people."

While waiting for an answer, Sydney continued down the duct and found herself over the file room. "Found the file room."

"Be careful."

"Aren't I always?"

She dropped into the file room and spent a minute looking around, orienting herself to the system before digging into a drawer.

That being done, she pulled out several files and flipped through them, pausing to take pictures of some pages she found interesting. Nothing out of the ordinary until she heard noises down the hall from the room.

"Crap." She tugged on the rope she'd left hanging making sure the magnet would hold before pulling herself back up into the duct. No wonder those shows on the kiddie channel always make a big deal out of this, it wasn't fun.

And those kids weren't half as much in shape as she was.

She'd barely gotten the vent cover back on when the door to the room opened and Shawn walked in with Gomez. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Gomez looked around and Sydney shrunk away from the cover.

"I swore I heard something." Sydney watched Shawn look around the room. "Someone's been here."

"How can you tell?" Sydney murmured and was surprised when Gomez asked the same question.

"Little things." Shawn's response was quiet enough for Sydney to have to strain to hear it. "Remember how I told you I see things that most don't?"

"Yeah?"

"This is one of those times. Whoever was here never wanted you to know." Sydney watched as Shawn continued looking around and a feeling grew in the pit of her stomach. It wasn't often that she was worried about being caught mid-mission, but she was now.

"I need to go make a phone call." Gomez rushed out and shut the door behind her.

"You can come out now." Shawn didn't look up but Sydney knew he meant her. When she didn't respond, he looked right at her in the vent. "Aren't you a little young to be doing this kind of thing?"

Dropping the vent cover, Sydney stuck her head out. "How did you know I was there?"

"It's a gift, curse, depends on the day." Shawn shrugged. "I knew there was more to you that you let on. The question is, what are you doing here?"

Sydney dug her badge out of her pants pocket and held it out, careful to leave the part with her full name hidden. "CIA."

"Which brings me back to the question, aren't you a little young?"

She shrugged. "There's more to people than meets the eye, Shawn."

"Why don't you come down here and let's talk?"

"And let her walk in on me?" Sydney nodded to the door.

"I'll give you enough warning."

For some reason, Sydney trusted this man. Which was saying something since she never trusted anyone. With a sigh, she let the rope down and clipped back onto it and guided herself down.

"See, was that so hard? So why is the shortest agent I've ever seen going through Francesca's file room?"

"First off, I'm not short. Secondly, why don't you ask her?" Sydney gave one last look to the friendly stranger before pulling herself back up. "Be careful who you trust Shawn."

With that, she refastened the cover and headed out of the building.

* * *

Shawn came to and let out a groan as he realized that he was once again, being held hostage. This had long sense ceased to be funny. But after doing a quick check, he let out a sigh of relief. At least he wasn't shot.

If he never went through that again, it would be too soon.

"Hey Francesca, I'm all for foreplay, well I would be if I wasn't married, but if this is your idea of it you need some lessons."

He was met with silence and wondered if anyone could hear him. Getting up from the corner he'd found himself in, he looked around for any way out and realized that Francesca wasn't as stupid as he was beginning to think she was.

Or was she?

In the corner, was a vent cover and Shawn figured he could squeeze into it. Sydney didn't make it look that hard.

Ten minutes later, he realized that maybe Sydney had a little more experience when it came to this. But he managed to get in the vent and started to see if he could find a way out.

Shawn inched his way through and looked for a way out. Below him, he heard a shout and realized that his absence had finally been noticed.

So much for a subtle get away.

Before they figured out where he was, Shawn managed to catch a break and found the outside access to the ventilation system. Not caring if anyone heard, he kicked it open and slid out. With a groan, he realized that woods surrounded the area.

What was it with bad guys and woods?

Without giving it a second thought, Shawn rushed into the woods. Better give himself some distance now and figure out where he was later.

* * *

Lassiter came rushing back into the SBPD, feeling a hundred times better after a shower and an outfit change. The bullpen was mostly deserted and it didn't take three guesses for him to guess where they were.

"Lassie!" Sydney came rushing in. "I need everything the SBPD has on the Matka."

Before he could answer her, she already had her phone out and was on it. "Jess, can I get the Matka file sent to my account?"

"What's going on Sydney?" Ohara came over and asked the question on Lassiter's mind.

"Well, a hot shower helped clear my head and Dad's research along with something I remember from an investigation." She sat in front of his computer and started typing something in. "Turns out, Gomez was given the key to something and in turn gave it to Dad without realizing what it was. Now she wants it back and took Dad cause she think he has it. Y'all's house was ransacked wasn't it, Jules?"

A nod from Ohara set Sydney off again. "So she covered all her basis. Jensen was probably searching this place and didn't find it before I ratted him out. Turns out that was the magic location. And it turns out that's why everyone vacated."

She darted off for the printer and Lassiter checked his screen but whatever it was she'd already closed it out. He turned to Ohara. "Is it me, or does she talk circles more than Spencer?"

That earned him a laugh. "She was just then."

Sydney was back up, tucking what she'd just printed out into a folder. Minus one piece. "Gomez has this, but we have something she doesn't."

"What?"

"The legend." Sydney sat down at Lassiter's desk and started writing something on a blank sheet of paper. Lassiter watched as she then started writing all over the map, drawing lines, and occasionally glancing at the map.

His phone rang, and Lassiter picked it up. "Lassiter."

"Lassie?"

Lassiter put the phone on speaker. "Spencer? Where are you?"

Static sounded for a second before he got an answer. "An abandoned gas station."

Sydney typed away on the computer. "Dad, keep talking so I can trace the call."

"I hate the woods."

"Join the club." Sydney smirked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, by the way how do you make crawling through air ducts so easy?"

"Experience Dad, years of experience." Sydney typed something in. "Got it. Dad, can you stay there?"

"Not sure, Francesca's got her goons after me."

Lassiter looked over Sydney's shoulder. "Alright Spencer, if you have to leave that station, try to head south by southwest. There's a ranger's station about two miles away."

"Got it."

"We'll be there within the hour." Lassiter started to hang up the phone but Ohara stopped him.

"Shawn?"

"Hey Jules."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, just not looking forward to another hike."

"The one to find me was enough."

Lassiter couldn't help but agree with her there. "Let's get going guys."

"Lassie!" Sydney stopped him cold.

"What?"

She held out her hand. "Either give me your keys or go get me that file, I can do what I need with it on the way."

With a sigh, he headed down to the file room, Sydney close behind.

* * *

**Sydney will start making sense again, eventually that is. For those of you who were expecting a little Shawn whump, sorry it didn't happen there but that's not to say there might be a little later. **

**Til next time... :) **


	12. Zig Zag

**Back again. I feel really bad about taking so long to update. Something about this one... I'm not sure what it is but it's taking longer to flow. And I also have to apologize because this one is short. And it's kind of a filler chapter. **

**But enough excuses from me, enjoy! **

* * *

"Why are we stopping by here again?" Lassiter followed Sydney into Henry's house.

"Cause last time there was a search involving the woods it lasted four days. This time, I'm going in prepared." Sydney headed up the stairs and Lassiter followed her into her room.

"Hey, open the box and push the button." Sydney nodded to the jewelry box sitting on the dresser to his left.

Lassiter found the button and when he pushed it, he was surprised to see the wall by her closet open up revealing a stash of he wasn't sure what.

"When did you do that?" Henry's voice right behind him caused him to jump.

"When you went on that fishing trip around Dad's birthday." Sydney's voice was muffled in the closet.

Lassiter wandered over to the open wall and examined the guns as well as the other equipment. "Where did this all come from?"

"Alex sent it overnight." Sydney came out of the closet with a pair of hiking boots in her hand. "I had to wait for Gramps to be gone so I could install this."

"Or you could have just told me." Lassiter had forgotten that Henry was there.

"I could have, but I was afraid you guys would treat me differently."

"Did I?" Lassiter zeroed in on Sydney's sniper rifle.

She swatted his hand away. "What did I say about touching my baby?"

He sighed. "Just once?"

The answering glare got him to back off.

"You dragged me here for boots?"

Sydney walked over to the wall. "Of course not."

She opened her laptop and opened a program that started beeping. "I have ways of tracking all of you. I got really bored when I was laid up."

"Wait, you track us?" Lassiter's reply came at the same time as Henry's.

A shrug was her response. "Yeah, I read through the files and figured it would come in handy someday."

She continued typing. "Crap."

"What?"

"Dad's on the move through the forest. Looks like someone found his hidey hole."

"Wait, my son's wandering through the forest?"

Lassiter let out a groan. "Let us handle it, Henry."

He already knew what the response would be. "Over my dead body. Let's get going and find my son."

"Gramps, wait!" To Lassiter's surprise, Henry stopped cold. Granted, Sydney's tone allowed for nothing less. "We are not about to run in there unprepared."

She grabbed something off the wall. "Now, first things first."

* * *

"Zig Zag! Zig Zag!" His father's voice rang through his head as he ran through the woods, the footsteps of his pursuers close behind him. He tried to ignore the pain in his eye; the odds of a black eye in the morning were not in his favor.

Holding back a smirk, he paused for a second to catch his breath and take a second to assess the situation. Besides the fact that he would have a few bruises to accompany that eye, he ended up better than he'd thought.

Shoot, he'd managed to land a few punches too. Surprised the thugs that he heard not far behind him.

Time to get moving again.

Shawn let out a sigh as he weaved around trees, hoping he was going in the right direction. Maybe he should start carrying a compass, that and his Swiss knife…

He was starting to sound like his father.

Shaking the thought away he ran, ran like it was no one's business. His lungs were on fire and more than anything he wanted to stop and take a sip from the water bottle he may have borrowed from the gas station.

But he couldn't stop.

Couldn't go in a straight line.

Couldn't get caught.

He came across a brook and crossed it, soaking his shoes and the bottom of his jeans. "Perfect."

But still he ran, couldn't stop, wouldn't stop running.

He ran until he thought he would pass out. Just when he thought he couldn't go any further, his foot slip on a ledge and he went toppling over.

Luckily, the drop wasn't too steep and he was able to catch his fall. But when he righted himself, he felt a pain shooting up his leg. Probably twisted it when he fell. Just what he needed right now.

That made running no longer an option. But maybe that fall would throw off his pursuers for a little bit.

Shawn kept as fast of a pace as his ankle would let him, and once again hope he was going in the right direction.

* * *

"How hard is it for Spencer to stay put?" Lassiter walked into the abandoned gas station.

He was surprised to see the state of the station and couldn't help but wonder who ended up on top of the fight that had to have happened. Spencer tended to avoid violence whenever possible and though Lassiter wouldn't admit it, he admired that about Spencer.

Not to say he didn't think guns can solve any problem. Cause he did.

And they can.

But the disheveled state of the gas station gave Lassiter the impression that a fight had gone down.

"Please, you've known my Dad for longer than I have." Sydney was looking at something over by the counter. "I think Dad was hiding behind here."

She walked around the counter. "There were three people. After the fight that created this," she nodded to the mess. "Dad escaped through that door."

"Sure he's thrilled." Ohara eyed the dense woods around the station.

Lassiter continued to oversee the processing of the scene while a thought kept running through his head, where was Spencer?

* * *

Henry looked at the GPS tracker in his hand, noticing that the signal was getting closer. About time, the sun was starting to set.

He turned to the man that had joined him. Apparently, Sydney had some friends from her CIA days in town and they were on search detail while Sydney assessed the store where Shawn had been before.

"How long have you known Sydney?" Henry tried to make conversation, but Casey (at least that's what he thought the guy's name was) was worse than him when it came to talking.

"We've crossed paths a few times the last few years." The answer was more a grunt that a response.

"Thanks for helping us out."

He glanced over in time to see a nod. "Sarah's got a soft spot for her."

The walked in silence for a few minutes as the sun set further. Both men pulled out flashlights and continued to glance at the device in Henry's hand.

Henry looked up and see a shadow under a ledge. "Shawn?"

"Dad?" Henry could hear the relief in his voice.

"You okay kid?"

"Twisted ankle, hurts like crap."

"You're going to have a black eye in the morning." He crouched down beside his son.

"Thank you Captain Obvious. Who's the dude?" The smile was worth the sarcastic comment. Checking his ankle, he saw that it was already swollen pretty big.

"Casey, I'm an old friend of Sydney's." Henry stepped away as the tow started to talk.

Realizing how dark it was, he pulled out his phone. "Hey Sydney, found him." … "He's banged up, but ok."

He turned to Shawn. "Think you can walk about a quarter mile to the road?"

He eyed his ankle and winced. "If we take it slow."

"I can carry him out." Casey was already situating Shawn on his back.

"Casey's got him." … "We'll see you in a few." Henry checked the device and led the group out. Thankfully, this trek in the forest wasn't nearly as bad as the last time.

* * *

"I gave you one simple task. Watch him. How hard is it to watch one person?" Francesca could feel her blood pressure rising as she yelled at one of her workers.

"We posted guards all over, but he managed to go through the air ducts. I'm not even sure how he got the grate off." The guard stammered.

"Well you realize that you let the key to all of this get away! He has the one thing that can make or break us." Francesca walked away from the man, taking a second to cool down.

"Find him." With that, she stormed out.

Wherever he was, Francesca was going to find Shawn Spencer and do what she should have done nine years ago.

* * *

**The fun moment when you remember you have the Chuck characters still in Santa Barbara and might as well use them...**

**Til next time! :) **


	13. Tell Me A Story

**Back again and with a warning. Updates are going to come slow. With summer here, I've picked up some freelance writing jobs and those have to come first. But I'm going to finish this. Thanks for sticking with me while I do! **

**This is pure filler fluff. But I wasn't happy with how little they showed of Shawn winning Jules back. So enjoy my Shules fluff. We'll get back to the story soon.**

* * *

"I think he's waking up." Shawn heard Sydney's voice in the distance.

"What did you give him?" Jules' voice sounded just as far away.

"Nothing serious, just something to shut him up." Sydney's voice was closer this time. "He acts younger than me when he's hurt."

"I do not." Shawn finally managed to get out before opening his eyes.

Looking around, he didn't bother to hold in the groan as he saw that he was in a hospital. "What am I doing here?"

"You are getting your twisted ankle, multiple bruises- including a couple ribs- and various other things taken care of." Sydney sat down on the side of the bed. "And if you think about signing out AMA, remember I carry a gun."

"Threaten the hurt guy." Shawn shift against the pillows that were propping him up.

"You're finally up." Gus walked in the room carrying a tray of cups. To Shawn's delight, he handed one to him and Shawn took a long sip of the sweet pineappley goodness.

"You rock."

"You know that's right." Gus held out a fist and Shawn bumped it.

"How are you feeling?" Jules eyed him with concern.

"Like I got hit by a truck." Shawn thought for a moment. "Did I get hit by a truck?"

"No, that's the one thing that didn't happen." Shawn smiled at the smile that crossed Jules' face.

"How long am I stuck here?" Shawn didn't bother to keep the whine out of his voice.

"Overnight." Sydney put her feet up on the end of his bed.

"Glad to see you awake, Shawn." Shawn looked up to see a doctor in the doorway. "What did you give him anyways?"

"Nothing strong!" Sydney held her hands up. "Just something to make him shut up."

"Well it kept him still while we patched him up." The doctor came over to the bed. "You needed some stitches in a few places, Shawn."

"Joy."

"Dad!"

"Shawn!" Gus and Jules' response came right after Sydney's.

The doctor just laughed. "I'll come by in the morning and see about getting you out of here."

"Best plan I've heard all day." Shawn settled down, wondering if whatever Sydney put into his system was still there. Closing his eyes, he let sleep overcome him.

* * *

He woke up a few and the room was dark. Sydney was still in the chair next to him, sound asleep in the otherwise empty room.

Looking around, Shawn finally found his water glass and reached for it. Before he could get it, a hand brought it the last few inches.

"Glad to see you up, Dad?"

"Where's everyone else?"

"It's 2am. I sent everyone home." She settled back into her chair. "Tell me a story."

"What?" Shawn placed the cup of water closer to him.

"Most kids get a bedtime story from their Dad's. Maybe 18 isn't too old for one."

Shawn settled back into bed. "Alright, you want a made up one or a real one?"

"Real." She thought for a second. "Tell me about how you won Jules back."

Smiling back at the memories, Shawn thought back just a couple short years ago…

* * *

Shawn walked into the station, taking care not to be seen. In his hands, he held a dozen red roses in a vase covered in pineapples.

He made his way to Jules desk, and to his relief she wasn't there. Writing a note, he left the vase on her desk and snuck out the station.

* * *

"She knew that the flowers were from me. But she kept them."

"You mean the vase on the coffee table?"

"That's the one." Shawn made a mental note to get new flowers.

"What happened next?"

"For a few weeks, I did little gifts like that. But then she told me the only way I could win her back was to tell the Chief."

"So you did? And she still let's you do this?" Sydney's eyes were wide.

"No, Jules stopped me before I could. And the was the beginning of our second relationship…"

* * *

Juliet woke up and realized that the other side of the bed was empty. Well, empty except for a piece of paper.

_You said you wanted to know my story. Now you get a chance to learn the truth. The journey begins in the same place mine did._

She got dressed and thought over the clue until it hit her. His Dad, he'd said something about his Dad training him.

Into her bug she went and headed for Henry's house. She didn't even have a chance to knock on the door before he opened it. "Juliet, come on in."

"Sorry to bother you, Henry. But Shawn left this." She held up the paper.

"And it brought you here." He nodded to the couch. "Want something to drink?"

Sipping on a glass of tea, Juliet heard the story of a boy who was raised by a cop. From the time he spoke his first words, Shawn had been trained to be a super cop.

Well until he rebelled and was arrested.

"When he found a way to use his gift, at first I was skeptical. I figured he would screw it up within six months. But he's managed to do so much more than he could have if he went the path I wanted."

He got up and handed her a piece of paper. "And that's all I can tell you, Detective."

"Why is he doing this?"

Henry smiled. "Why not? It's his way of making sure you hear the whole story."

"Thanks Henry." Juliet thought over what she'd just heard as she opened the next clue.

_If Papa Bear didn't scare you off, your next clue is being held for questioning._

Officially curious, Juliet headed to the station and down to the interrogation room. To her surprise, she found her partner sitting there working on his computer.

"Took you long enough."

"You're actually helping Shawn?"

"For some reason, Spencer makes you happy and you've been mopey since you two broke up. Whatever that idiot did, he's sorry. And I want to see you happy again."

Jules took a seat, feeling weird to be sitting across the table from him. "So what story do you have for me?"

"It was a routine day about nine and a half years ago. We were bringing a suspect in to question him about some stereo robberies…"

Juliet listened as Carlton told the story of what she knew to by Psych's first case. From what he said, Shawn hadn't been lying about having no choice. Well he'd had a choice, but this was Shawn.

"And he told me to give you this." Carlton handed her another piece of paper.

As he left, Juliet opened it up.

_And so Psych was born. But I couldn't do it without a certain pharmaceutical salesman…_

And with that, Juliet headed to Central Coast Pharmaceuticals. She remembered where Gus' office was from the case they'd worked her a couple weeks ago and found him in his office working away. Cautiously, she knocked on the door.

"Hey Juliet! Wondered when you'd get here." He nodded to the chairs in front of his desk. "Have a seat."

"So what do you have for me?"

"The tale of two kids with a dream." Gus smiled and launched into a tale that went from when they were kids to when they were adults. Through Shawn leaving, to coming back, to starting Psych and everything that happened there.

"Honestly, I think the only reason he's stayed here all these years is because of you." Gus handed her another piece of paper. "So thanks for keeping my best friend around."

The next several clues sent her around Santa Barbara. She visiting Adam Hornstock as well as some other clients of Psych. Each had a story about Shawn and how he'd helped them out. How he'd made a difference. Each one had a clue leading to the next one.

Finally, she was met with one last clue.

_You took my seat._

With a smile, she made her way to the diner where she'd worked her first case here in Santa Barbara. The diner where she'd met a certain psychic detective who managed to turn her world upside down.

And when she walked in, she saw him there sitting on the same stool. He was holding a single red rose and his face lit up when he saw her. "How was your day?"

"Informative."

"Hear any good stories?" He handed her a glass of orange juice.

"A few."

* * *

"It took a little more coaxing, but she finally agreed to take me back." Shawn snapped out of the memory and saw that Sydney was sound asleep. A quick glance at the clock told him it was almost three.

Maybe sleep wasn't such a bad idea.

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**Originally, Sydney was going to share a story too. But I found that having her out cold at the end was so cuter. But she'll get her chance soon.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Til next time...**


	14. Clear

**SURPRISE! I'm back!**

**So sorry about the extreme long wait/really short chapter. I've been under a really tight deadline but with the worst of it behind me, I hope to start updating this regularly again.**

**This is just a little something to help me dive back into the story and then its full steam ahead. **

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"Is this really necessary?" Shawn leaned against the doorway of the Psych office. People were staring at him and while he usually didn't care, this was a little extreme.

"Clear." He heard for the third time and guessed Sydney had checked the back storage closet.

"I'm taking that as a yes."

"Clear." And there was the bathroom.

"Can I come in now?" He shifted on the crutches. It was either these or another day having to play patient. Since Jules was needed at the station and Gus had his route, that left his Dad.

Suddenly, crutches seemed inviting.

"All clear."

Shawn let out a sigh of relief and hobbled into the office and took a seat at his desk letting the crutches fall wherever.

Sydney was already perched on the couch, typing away at a laptop.

"Feel better?"

She looked up and stared at him for a second before looking down. "Much. Gomez has come after you once, she isn't going to get by me again."

He got up, wincing at the little bit of pain that shot up his ankle before making his way to the storage closet and pulling out the clear board.

"So what do we know?"

Sydney typed a second before sitting the laptop aside and helping him pull it out. She grabbed two markers from the cup on Gus' desk and handed him one.

"We know that in 1998, Francesca Gomez somehow ended up with one half of the key to the Matka's fortune." Shawn turned to see Alex walk in.

"Don't you have a wife and kid to go home to?" Sydney smiled before tossing him her marker.

"Janice gave me a threat that included the guest room, dish duty for a year, and various other clauses if I left you before this case was over."

Sydney laughed and once again Shawn remembered how he loved the sound of that. "That would be Janice."

"So we've got the key to their whole fortune?"

Sydney nodded, grabbing her laptop. "I was pulling it up in the CIA database. See, I had tracked her for years. So in reality this is a combo for her. Her old lover and the mini spy that was a pain in her butt."

"Most kids would shudder mentioning their parent's lovers." Shawn smirked at her.

"I thought we established ages ago that I'm not a normal kid." She turned to the laptop. "See, you caught me getting a copy of one half, this map.

An image filled the screen and Shawn looked at it barely registering Sydney. "This is a map of the region. According to Matka legend, the Matka actually started her in Santa Barbara. It was about thirty years ago that they started to spread around the globe. According to the legend, one of the founders of the gang didn't want his recruits blowing through cash. So there is a substantial amount they have access to but the big bucks are hidden and you need both this map and the legend to gain access."

She slid a piece of paper over to Shawn. "The legend was hidden in the jewel on Jules' necklace. When the light hit it a certain way it appears on the wall."

Shawn took the piece of paper and tacked it up to the wall. "So according the legend, we now can find where Matka's fortune is stashed."

"And once we seize that, we can easily lock up the other accounts and stop one of the world's largest gangs." Alex nodded.

Sydney stared at the paper, a smile crossing her face. "Well that only took six years."

"So how do we find where its hidden?  
"That's the trick." Sydney printed a copy of the image on the screen. "We need to figure out how this."

She pulled the sheet off of the printer tacking it up beside the legend. "and this goes together."

"Well, we've got two fake psychics, one of which happens to be an amazing CIA agent, and an extra agent. I think we can figure this out."

Shawn studied the two pieces of paper, looking for some sort of pattern. "Give me a few minutes."

"Everything is looking good, Mrs. Lassiter." The doctor turned off the machine. "We'll schedule you for an appointment next month and unless something comes up we'll see you then."

"Thank you, Doctor." Lassiter stood up from the chair he'd spent the last hour in.

"It's my pleasure, Detective. Congratulations again." The doctor shook his hand before leaving the room.

"Boy or Girl, Carlton?"

Lassiter looked up and smiled when he saw Marlowe's wide eyes staring at him. He eyed her belly that wasn't quite growing yet. "It doesn't matter, as long as our little one is healthy."

They got ready to go and Lassiter led Marlowe to the car, still not believing that they were going to have a baby.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

He looked over to see her watching him. "Just realizing, I'm the luckiest guy in the world. I've got an amazing wife, a great job, and a little one of the way."

A smile covered her face and Lassiter felt himself smile. "I'm the one who's lucky you waited for me."

He held the car door for her and she slipped in. "I told you I would."

He got into the drivers seat and headed home. When he was a couple blocks away, his phone rang. "Lassiter." … "What is it now, Spencer. It's my day off." … "How did you know about that?" … "don't feed me that crap."

With a sigh, he turned to Marlowe. "I'm being forced to ask you how you are feeling."

She giggled. "Tell Shawn I feel fine."

"She feels fine." … "It went fine, the baby looks healthy." … "You tell me, Psychic." … "Oh I'm sure they're blocked." … "Wait, they told you the what?" … "Are you sure?" … "Put Sydney on." … "Cause I said so." … "Thank you."

Lassiter let out a sigh as he waited for Sydney to pick up the phone. "Is he serious?" … "I'll be there as soon as I can. Don't let your dad out of your sight. He likes to get himself into messes." … "Oh more than you know." … "See you in twenty."

With a sigh, he hung up the phone. "Looks like I'm going to have to cut my day off short. Shawn apparently divined a big break in the Matka case."

He pulled up to their house as he said that and Marlowe got out of the car. "Well that gives me time to get a surprise ready for you."

Giving him a knowing smile, she shut the door and headed into the house. While a large part of him wanted to follow her inside, he knew it was time to once and for all put the lid on this case.

He made his way to the Psych office and pulled up, barley stopping the car before he got out. He made his way inside and found Shawn sitting at his desk, his feet propped up. "Lassidoodle, you made it! Now we can be a band of pirates searching for buried treasure."

"You better have an exact location."

"So the ultrasound went well?" Sydney looked up from the magazine she was reading.

He let a smile cross his face. "Yes."

"Don't worry, Lassie. The spirits are quite clear. We go after this and we will shut down the Matka."

Lassiter took one look at Spencer's face and saw no traces of his usual teasing.

"I've got four coffees. Sydney, I assumed you like yours the same way." Behind him, Agent Temple made his way into the room. "Detective Lassiter, I was told you are taking it black but prefer it with three creams and four sugars."

Lassiter took the cup from Temple, taking a sip smiling when it wasn't black. Oh he'd missed his three creams four sugars.

Shawn took a cup and Temple took a sip from the fourth. "Where's Juliet?"

"About ten minutes away. She was in the middle of buying groceries and since I want to eat this week I decided to let her finish." Spencer picked up a magazine.

"Make yourself comfortable, Lassie. We're going to be a few minutes." Sydney shifted so she was sitting on the couch, making room for him to sit.

"And here I rushed to get here." Lassiter picked up the least offending looking magazine and started to leaf through it.

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**Lassie fluff! :) Gotta love it. **

**Thanks for putting up with the long wait! **

**Til next time! :) **


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